Chicago Area Local News

CROWN POINT, Ind. (Post-Tribune) ― The gruesome, callous and sordid details of Jada Justice's demise were revealed Friday when prosecutors charged the 2-year-old girl's cousin and her boyfriend with her murder.

Engelica Castillo, 18, and her live-in boyfriend, Tim Tkachik, 23, are accused of murder, two counts of neglect of a dependent, battery and false informing. They face 65 years in prison if convicted. Both live in Hobart, Ind. and are being held in the Lake County Jail without bond.

The charges were filed shortly after Justice's uncle confirmed for LaPorte County, Ind., Coroner John Sullivan that the body found Thursday near Otis is hers. Sullivan said Justice's death was a homicide, but he declined to explain the cause of death at prosecutors' request.

T. Edward Page, Castillo's attorney, said his client is devastated by her cousin's death and distraught she's been accused of her murder.

"A plea of not guilty will be entered on Engelica's behalf at the first opportunity," Page said, "and we believe that once all of the evidence is presented to a fair and impartial jury at trial, she will be cleared of responsibility for Jada's death."

Justice's mother, Melissa Swiontek, told the Post-Tribune on Friday that she never thought Castillo or Tkachik would harm her daughter. In court documents, prosecutors said Justice's body was burned and encased in concrete before she was left in a LaPorte County swamp.

"They should have the same fate she had, if you ask me," Swiontek said of Castillo and Tkachik.

When Castillo reported Justice missing June 16, splashing her face across fliers in the region and television screens across the nation, police say she was already dead.

Nonetheless, when police came upon Castillo that day at the Glen Park Gas Station at 1401 E. Ridge Rd. in Gary, they found her crying and screaming on the ground, claiming to be on the phone with her mother.

The story, as Castillo told it, was that she took Justice to the gas station to buy milk. Castillo told police she drove there because she was afraid to drive in Hobart without a driver's license.

Castillo told police she and Tkachik spent June 16 paying bills before returning home, 3925 Missouri St., to make dinner. Justice ate, Castillo said, and afterward the couple smoked marijuana while the girl played on the floor.

Later, she said, she realized they needed milk, cigarettes and bottled water. Tkachik told police they left him at home because he was bothered by burns he suffered lighting a grill on June 14.

Placing Justice in the back seat, Castillo said she drove to the gas station where she saw a black man pumping gas and two other black men near a white Cadillac.

Castillo said she left the car carrying her keys and leaving the car unlocked. When she returned, she told police, she realized the girl wasn't in the car.

Tkachik told police he was called to the gas station by Castillo. When he arrived, he hugged Castillo who told him "Jada's gone."

However, a man approached police at the gas station when Justice was first reported missing. He said he saw Castillo pull up, go into the gas station and return. He said he didn't see anyone around or near Castillo's car, nor did any other vehicles pull up.

Police searched the area, finding no sign of the girl.

In an interview with police the next day, an officer accused Castillo of lying and held up a picture of Justice.

Castillo became angry and tried to hit the officer, according to reports. She had to be restrained for about 30 seconds.

"God is taking care of her," Castillo told police. "God is watching over her."

Tkachik visited Porter hospital's Portage campus June 18, police said, for burn treatment. He said the injuries were caused when a propane grill tank blew up.

Tkachik eventually told officers another story, according to court documents, and he led them to Justice's body on Thursday.

Tkachik said he drove Castillo to pick up Justice for the first time June 8.

"Everything was normal for several days," police wrote in an affidavit.

Castillo spanked Justice several times because she was being potty trained, Tkachik said.

The couple also took several lines of heroin June 12. That was the day Swiontek said she last spoke to her daughter. She said Justice told her she had eaten dinner that day and played with the dog.

"She said, 'Love you,'" and hung up," Swiontek said. "She seemed happy."

The next morning, Tkachik said he found Castillo spanking the girl and pulling her hair. Justice didn't cry, he said, which prompted Castillo to hit her even harder.

Eventually, police said, Castillo hit Justice and the girl fell against a table and hit her head. Castillo then pulled Justice into a corner and made her stand still. When Justice started acting up again, he said, Castillo started rapping the girl's head with her knuckles.

That's when Tkachik told police he realized things had gone too far and tried to stop Castillo.

But when he couldn't stop her from hitting the girl, he said, he went to another room to watch television.

That night, he said, they were on their way to purchase heroin from a man named "Ryan" in Porter County. Once they were on the highway, Tkachik told police, they realized Justice was not breathing. Tkachik tried CPR while Castillo began to scream and cry.

Tkachik realized the girl was dead and told Castillo, "I told you to stop. I told you enough is enough."

They returned home, covered Justice, and then they left her in the car while they drove to see "Ryan" in another vehicle. Then they drove to Chicago.

Police said the couple returned home at about 9:30 p.m., checked on Justice and thought she was breathing. They took her into the house and gave her CPR.

They noticed the bruising on her face, police said, and decided to put her in three garbage bags. The couple then left her body in the basement and went to bed.

Police said Castillo and Tkachik spent most of the next morning trying to figure out how to get rid of the body so they wouldn't get in trouble.

They eventually decided to burn the body. Police said Tkachik drove to a home-supply store in Michigan City, Ind., where he bought a metal garbage can. Then he bought charcoal, lighter fluid and gas at a gas station.

All of this while Justice was in the back of his truck.

Police said he pulled his truck into a wooded area near U.S. 421 in LaPorte County. Police said Castillo dumped gas and lighter fluid into a hole they found.

Tkachik placed charcoal and Justice's body, wrapped in garbage bags, into the hole. Then he lit a piece of the charcoal bag and dropped it into the hole, police said, causing an explosion.

Castillo screamed and Tkachik was badly burned. The garbage bags burned, police said, but the body remained.

Tkachik and Castillo left the girl's body in the hole and drove home.

The next day, documents say, Tkachik retrieved Justice's body, took her to the house in Hobart, and then drove to a home-supply store in Merrillville, Ind.

He bought four bags of concrete and a large blue tub. Police said he returned to his basement, dumped a bag of concrete into the tub, put Justice's body in the tub and then dumped the rest of the concrete over her body.

Tkachik then poured water into the tub and dried it with a space heater, police said.

When it was dry, police said, the couple drove the tub to a swamp in LaPorte County. Police said he used a yellow and black saw to cut the tub from around the concrete. He did so, police said, because he knew fingerprints would have been on it.

Tkachik pushed the concrete into the swamp where it eventually sank below the surface.

The couple returned home, took some heroin, and decided to report Justice's abduction the next day.

Police said it was Tkachik who led them to the body they found Thursday along Snyder Road, west of U.S. 421.

Tkachik's father killed his wife, his sister-in-law and himself in 2003 just minutes from where Justice's body was found.

Sullivan said an autopsy on the body began at 8 a.m. Friday and lasted more than four hours.

It was performed by forensic pathologist John Cavanaugh, he said. She was found to have numerous fractures on her skull.

Swiontek said she has been staying at a friend's house since her daughter's body was found, listening to condolences

"I just never, never, never, never would have thought they'd hurt my baby," Swiontek said.

Elizabeth Justice, Jada Justice's stepmother, said the girl's killers should suffer.

"Whoever else knew about it should suffer, also," Elizabeth Justice said.

A memorial is planned for noon today at Tod Park at Indianapolis Boulevard and Columbus Drive in East Chicago, Ind.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Editor's Picks

• Real Or Fake?
• Celebs Who Lean To The Right
• Top 10 Smartest And Dumbest Dog Breeds
• World's Most Useless Facts