Allison Castillo’s life was full of hope and promise the morning of Aug. 9, when the 15-year-old Costa Mesa resident went to visit a friend in her old neighborhood on Shalimar Drive.
It was a rare break from a constant schedule of soccer practice, matches and tournaments that had come to define Allison’s life in recent years, as she engaged in the sport with a singular passion, focus and drive.
A Newport Harbor High School student attending a county education program to make up for school credits missed from traveling to compete in soccer events, Allison had just received a full-ride scholarship to attend a soccer camp in Spain through the LaLiga Academy.
A flier for a fundraiser being held on Sunday by the family of Allison Castillo, a 15-year-old Costa Mesa killed last Saturday in a stabbing on Shalimar Drive.
(Courtesy of Anahi Castillo)
The teen was excited by the prospect of traveling overseas, according to her mom, Yohana Legaspi.
“Soccer, that was her life,” Legaspi recalled Friday. “She’s been playing since she was 3 years old. She really wanted to be a professional soccer player and play with the [United Premier Soccer League] semi-professional club.”
But that dream was cut short last Saturday, when a 31-year-old Anaheim man unknown to Allison randomly stabbed her on the 700 block of Shalimar Drive, leaving her to die several hours later at the Orange County Global Medical Center.
Legaspi — who is recovering from a stem cell transplant for the treatment of cancer — said she was driving home from a doctor’s appointment at around noon on Saturday when she got a call from someone who knew her from the old neighborhood.
“She said, ‘Can you send someone here fast? Allison’s had an accident,’” she recalled.
What happened next was a flurry of phone calls to her sister and her other daughter Anahi Castillo, as she tried to determine what had happened. Anahi delivered the grim news, saying Allison was being taken by ambulance to some hospital. But which one?
Allison Castillo, second from left, with mom Yohana Legaspi and her sister and brothers.
(Courtesy of Anahi Castillo)
While traveling on the 55 Freeway, Legaspi thought to track the teen’s cellphone. The ping was moving toward her, on the same freeway, heading in the opposite direction en route to Orange County Global Medical Center. That’s when she saw the ambulance, exited off Baker Road and made a U-turn to get back on the 55.
Allison had died at the scene but was briefly revived by first responders, only to succumb to her injuries hours later at the hospital, police reported on Sunday. An investigation into the incident quickly led to the discovery and arrest of the alleged attacker — 31-year-old Matthew Juarez, a three-time convicted felon with known gang ties.
A carwash to raise funds for funeral services for Allison Castillo takes place at 740 W. Wilson St. in Costa Mesa Aug. 23.
(Courtesy of Anahi Castillo )
Legaspi said the man, who is facing a murder charge with sentence enhancements for criminal gang activity, did not know her daughter.
“It was random,” she said Friday. “She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”
Now, Legaspi, her husband and three remaining adult children are struggling to stay strong for one another while also doing what they can to raise funds to cover Allison’s funeral and burial costs. It’s an unanticipated expense made more difficult by Legaspi’s being out of work due to her health issues.
On Friday, the family was taking orders for hot food in exchange for donations. On Sunday, they will sell snacks, food and beverages at a home in Santa Ana — located at 1514 E. 4th St. — beginning at 8 a.m.
Next Saturday, Aug. 23, loved ones will host a fundraiser carwash on the site of Palm Harvest Church, located at 740 W. Wilson St. in Costa Mesa, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event was organized by local resident Alex Rodriguez, whose son was an acquaintance of Allison’s.
“I’m just someone who lives in the area, so I took it upon myself to help them raise some funds,” Rodriguez said Friday.
A still from a video memorial honoring 15-year-old Costa Mesa teen Allison Castillo, who was killed in a Aug. 9 attack.
(Facebook: Anahi Castillo)
Legaspi said while it’s hard to ask for help, she will do what she can to memorialize her beloved daughter.
“She was my baby — she was everything to us,” she said. “And I want people to know she didn’t have anything to do with gangs. There is no way she had anything to do with that guy.
“I want people to know how lovely she was, how helpful she was with everybody,” she continued. “This guy, we didn’t know him, he cut my daughter’s wings, but I know she’s growing bigger wings now.”
A tribute to15-year-old Allison Castillo, a “soccer sister.”
