Grieving family wants answers in Army slaying

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A life cut short

Army Spc. John "Junior" Carrillo of Stockton died Sept. 24, shortly after being shot the night before in his living quarters in Fallujah, Iraq. According to his family, Carrillo walked in on a violent fight between Pfc. Gebrah Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Conn., and Spc. Neftaly Platero, 32, of Houston. Platero is in custody in the shooting deaths of Carrillo and Noonan. A third soldier was wounded. Carrillo was attempting to break up the fight when he was shot, his family says. At his Oct. 5 funeral in Manteca, the Army posthumously awarded Carrillo the Bronze Star for distinguishing himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service and it awarded him the Army Good Conduct Medal. He also was promoted to specialist.

Grieving family wants answers in Army slaying
By Joe Goldeen
Record Staff Writer
October 15, 2010 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - Is the U.S. Army trying to sweep the slayings of two soldiers at the hands of one of its own under the rug? That's how the Stockton family of one of those victims feels.

Three weeks after Spc. John "Junior" Carrillo of Stockton was killed in Iraq, his grieving family remains in the dark about exactly what happened. As they understand it, he returned to his living quarters, walked in on a fight between his Army roommates, attempted to break it up and was shot and killed by one of them.

Carrillo's young widow and his mother, however, have yet to receive a full, official account of what transpired. They feel ignored and abandoned by the disorganized military bureaucracy they've encountered. They are angry that the Army has not been forthcoming with information surrounding the circumstances of Carrillo's death and the status of the man accused of killing him.

As far as I'm concerned, the military's the one that murdered my son. They owe me answers," said Desiree Carrillo, 40, of Stockton, the mother of four children, including "Junior," her firstborn.

"They write my questions down and say they will get back to me. I just don't understand. When every day goes by, that's another day they can lose information," Desiree Carrillo said.