A man who killed a 67-year-old grandfather while stealing his phone in Albany Park has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 20-year sentence, court records show.
Relatives remember J. Isabel Castillo as a hardworking, loving man. When he turned 18, he moved to the U.S. from Mexico and settled in Uptown. He later made a home in Albany Park, where he lived for decades, raised a family, worked as a dishwasher and cook, and sold paletas and elotes around the neighborhood. He was about to celebrate his 68th birthday.
He didn’t get to celebrate, though, because he was killed by a man who wanted his phone…