Man charged in 4-year-old's shooting death expected to take case to trial

Philip Battles is seen in court in this undated photo. (KPRC2)

HOUSTON – A man charged in the shooting death of a 4-year-old girl may be taking his case to trial.

Philip Battles is accused of shooting and killing Ava Castillo in 2016 while trying to steal her mother's purse in the Greenspoint area.

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Castillo's family showed up at Harris County Criminal Court, thinking they were going to see Battles take a plea deal.

“We thought he agreed to the plea deal, so I guess last minute he backed out, so now it's going to trial,” said Julie Gomez, Ava’s Aunt.

In 2016, police said Battles was one of the three teens accused of trying to rob Ava's mother, Diana, while she was with her two girls. All three were shot. Ava did not survive.

“My sister and Betsy, they're fine,” said Gomez. “Healthwise, they are. Emotionally, I don't know if they'll ever be healed.”

On Monday, another man pleaded guilty to his part in the shooting death of Ava. Ferrell Dardar was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

“I was OK with the sentence, I guess,” said Gomez. “He's a minor, so he couldn't get the death penalty or life without parole. So, I was OK with 60 years.”

The family left the court for the second time this week, knowing they'll be back as Battles' capital murder case heads to trial.

“I am OK with that, to be honest,” said Gomez. “I'm hoping he'll get a tougher sentence by taking it to trial.”

This is one of three capital murder charges that Battles is facing. Police said he allegedly took part in two other shooting deaths that happened the same week Ava was killed.

The third young man charged with capital murder in this case, Marco Miller, is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 4.