Baby dies after being delivered prematurely after mother's fatal shooting in Portage Park
Jan 25, 2025
A baby who was delivered prematurely after his mother was fatally shot in a domestic incident has died, the Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed.Jesus Castrejon was pronounced dead about 7 p.m. Thursday, the medical examiner's office said Friday. His mother, Edith Castrejon, 35, was shot in her chest while in bed with her boyfriend in the 5800 block of West Newport Avenue about 4:50 a.m. Jan. 16, according to Chicago police.She was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where doctors delivered Jesus at 5:48 a.m. His mother was pronounced dead at 6:24 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. The baby’s condition was critical, with only a “25% chance of survival,” according to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times.
Edith Castrejon was pregnant when she was shot Jan. 16. Her baby was delivered about half an hour before she died. That boy, named Jesus, died Thursday.GoFundMe
An autopsy report for Castrejon ruled she was killed by a gunshot wound to her chest. The death was classified as a homicide. Jesus Castrejon's cause of death was "complications of prematurity maternal gunshot wound to the chest," according to the medical examiner's office. His death was also ruled a homicide.Castrejon's boyfriend, Robert Pasco, 42, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a convicted felon and possessing a firearm without a valid firearm owner's identification card. Pasco told officers he and Castrejon were in bed when a gun under a pillow went off, striking her in her chest."[Man questioned] believes that Castrejon tried to move the handgun and at the same time his hand was near the handgun and the gun went off, striking Castrejon in the chest,” the report said.A GoFundMe for Castrejon described her as a “sister, aunt, sister-in-law, cousin and friend." It had raised more than $6,600 of its $10,000 goal by Saturday afternoon.