NYC mayor mourns jailed suspect in murder of autistic man, sparks outrage

Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his X account to extend condolences to the family of Luis Alberto Lopez Castillo, a 20-year-old inmate who died while in Department of Corrections custody. Castillo had been awaiting trial on murder, manslaughter, robbery and weapons charges tied to the 2025 homicide of 26-year-old autistic man Ron Marte, who was robbed of his cellphone and shot in the chest during an ambush in the Bronx’s Starlight Park.

An alleged accomplice, Axel Martinez, is said to have fired the shot as Marte walked home from an Amazon warehouse shift. Castillo was found in “medical distress” at Queens Criminal Court, where DOC staff performed CPR before EMS transferred him to Jamaica Hospital, where he was declared dead. Mamdani’s message, which did not reference Marte, provoked backlash online, with users accusing the mayor of honoring a criminal while ignoring the victim’s family. The incident echoes earlier criticism of Mamdani for a similar tribute to another accused killer at Rikers Island.