Heartbroken sister of aspiring lawyer killed in Tucson crash lashes out at driver

Cold and remorseless.

Those were the words Allison Salinas used to describe 19-year-old Louis John Artal when he appeared in court Friday night, accused of fatally striking her sister, Katya Castillo-Mendoza, and two other University of Arizona students, Sophia Troetel and Josiah Santos, with his Porsche Boxster.

Each victim a good friend of the other.

Each studying for the future.

Each just out “doing what U of A kids do,” but being responsible, Salinas said. They were walking, and in a marked crosswalk. “He decided to drive and it cost them their life,” she said.

“He just looked cold, it didn’t seem like he cared,” Salinas added, describing Artal’s demeanor in his initial court appearance on two counts of second-degree murder — Tucson police said a third count of second-degree murder will now be added because Castillo-Mendoza died after the hearing — and one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Police said Artal was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the crash about 11 p.m. Thursday near the UA campus, on North Euclid Avenue at East Second Street near East University Boulevard, and that he fled before turning himself in about an hour later.

Twenty-one-year-old Castillo-Mendoza was critically injured and later died at a hospital from her injuries.

Troetel, who was Castillo-Mendoza’s roommate, and Troetel’s boyfriend, Josiah Santos, were also killed. Troetel, 21, was the general manager of KAMP Student Radio at the university and a volunteer in victim services for the Pima County Attorney’s Office, and Santos, 22, was a frequent performer with Arts Express Theatre and the music director of an a capella group at the UA.

Salinas called Artal’s $250,000 bond a “slap on the wrist” and said she’s concerned he may try to flee to California, where his “well-to-do” family lives. Artal’s attorney, however, said Artal’s family, which owns “a large business” in California, has spent “significant” resources to hire an outside attorney, which he said is evidence that the teen from San Francisco, a UA student, will not flee. “I’m not trying to in any way take away from the seriousness of the offense, but my client got scared and didn’t know what to do,” the attorney told the court.

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None of this seems fair to Salinas, but Castillo-Mendoza’s mother said their angel on Earth is now an angel in heaven. Katya was taken off life support around 9:30 p.m. Friday, and her final wish came true, her family said: Her organs were donated, and two people have already been saved as a result.

“Even in her death she was just an angel,” said her mom, Rosa Mendoza.

Dad Carlos Castillo could hardly speak Saturday afternoon. His voice shook, and his breath sounded labored. He didn’t want to talk but couldn’t help saying a few words about the baby girl who changed his world.

“She was always so grateful and loving to her mother,” he said.

He described the way the two would gently hold hands when they were driving, and the tenderness of Katya’s personality.

Salinas acknowledged that it sounds like a cliché, and that everyone says it about family members when they pass, but, “to her core, she really was an angel. She was so driven, and so smart.” She volunteered at an assisted living home during her summer breaks.

Castillo-Mendoza grew up in Gilbert, graduating from Williams Field High School in 2022. She was majoring in finance and real estate development at the UA, had plans to go to law school and was a member of the university’s Aspiring Latino Lawyers Club. The group has reached out to the family to offer condolences, as have many others who knew and loved the 21-year-old described as a sweet, genuine friend who put others’ thoughts and feelings above her own.

Above all, Castillo-Mendoza was the baby and the rock of her family, the one who kept everyone together, said her older sister, Salinas.

“She was an amazing aunt. Her and my 4-year-old son were thick as thieves.”

Katya had plans to travel the world and take her family with her. Her aspirations were endless.

“She was truly a good person to her core. That’s why God wanted her back. She was just too good for us,” Salinas said. “I don’t know how we’ll get through this.”