A guilty plea has been entered in an Alexander County murder case. In Alexander County Superior Court on Tuesday (October 12), a Stony Point man entered a plea of guilty to second-degree murder in connection to a 2019 shooting death.

26-year-old Antonio Castillo will serve a sentence of 16-20 years in state prison for the March 24, 2019 shooting death of 23-year old Blade McKinley Campbell of Taylorsville. Campbell was shot multiple times at a residence off Middle Road in Stony Point.

Castillo was arrested later on the same day at a location off Jessica Lee Lane in Taylorsville. Castillo was initially charged with first-degree murder. He was armed with an AR-15 rifle and numerous rounds of ammunition. It was determined that the weapon in Castillo’s possession was not the murder weapon. A female and a child were at the scene at the time of the shooting. They were not injured.

Then Sheriff Chris Bowman said in published report that Castillo went to his former girlfriend’s home where Campbell was present. The two men became engaged in an argument and exchanged blows. Campbell was not armed but Castillo used a handgun to fire multiple shots at close range. County records show that Castillo was denied a gun permit less than a year prior to the incident.

Castillo will be granted time served which amounts to more than four years.