3rd inmate pleads guilty to second-degree murder in prison slaying

An inmate at a federal detention center in southern Michigan has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of a fellow prisoner convicted of leading a child pornography ring.

Alex Castro’s plea came Thursday in federal court in Detroit, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Castro, 42, is accused of repeatedly stabbing Christian Maire on Jan. 2, 2019, at the Milan Correctional Institution. He faces up to life in prison when sentenced July 28.

Castro, of Fontana, California, already is serving a 42-year sentence for a 2017 federal drug conviction.

Two other inmates, Jason Dale Kechego and Adam Taylor Wright, are accused of kicking and stomping Maire in the head before he was thrown down a flight of stairs. Maire was stabbed 28 times.

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The detention center is on the grounds of a federal prison in Milan, about 50 miles southwest of Detroit. Men are housed at the center while awaiting trial, sentencing or a permanent prison assignment.

Kechego, 41, was sentenced in November to 28 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder. His sentence is running consecutively with a 10-year sentence he already was serving for possession of a stolen firearm.

Wright, 42, of Springfield, Illinois, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 2022 and was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison for his role in the killing.

Maire, of Binghamton, New York, was sentenced in December 2018 to 40 years in prison for exploiting children after pleading guilty to coercing girls to engage in sexual activity on a website.