BOSTON (WHDH) - A Salem man convicted of killing an Army veteran during a confrontation in Boston’s Theater District 4 1/2 years ago has been sentenced to life in prison.
Peter Castillo appeared in Suffolk Superior Court Monday.
The 28-year-old Castillo faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole after being convicted last week of first-degree murder in the April 2012 shooting of Stephen Perez, of Revere.
Prosecutors say the 22-year-old Perez, who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was out with friends when he became involved in an altercation and Castillo shot him in the back.
Castillo fled to the Dominican Republic. He was captured in January 2015.
Castillo said the shooting was in self-defense.
Relatives have said that Perez was in college and hoping to join a federal law enforcement agency.
Castillo declined to apologize before being sentenced to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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