{"id":4471,"date":"2017-11-28T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2026-08-11T15:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:49:48","slug":"a-mothers-pain-valarie-castile-opens-up-about-life-without-her-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2017\/11\/28\/a-mothers-pain-valarie-castile-opens-up-about-life-without-her-son\/","title":{"rendered":"A mother\u2019s pain: Valarie Castile opens up about life without her son"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The mother of Philando Castile is determined to keep a positive light on her son\u2019s legacy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us spent last week surrounded by the love of family and friends, recounting the many reasons for which we are thankful \u2026 most of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valerie Castile was among family and friends, but her son \u2026 her first born \u2026 was not there. He will not be there for Christmas either. The holidays are tough on Castile. Each day can be a tough one for her. But despite the pain, she endures, trying to turn tragedy into triumph and ensuring the legacy of her son \u2026 Philando Castile \u2026 will endure far beyond the 32 years he existed on this plain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the July 6, 2016 killing of Philando Castile by then St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez, and the June 16 manslaughter acquittal of Yanez; Valarie Castile has been hard at work evaluating the name of Philando Castile \u2026 King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always called him King. He was always a king to me,\u201d said Castile in an exclusive interview with Insight News<\/em>. \u201cI was 26-years-old when I got pregnant with King, and before that, doctors told me I couldn\u2019t have kids. So, to have him here on earth, he was delivered to me by God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was taken away in a hail of bullets. The world witnessed his last breaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to give credit to Diamond. She was supposed to be there to show the world how wicked this system can be,\u201d said Valarie Castile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Diamond Valarie Castile speaks about is Diamond Reynolds, Philando Castile\u2019s girlfriend, who livestreamed to Facebook the immediate aftermath of Philando Castile being shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling you this; that video saved that girl\u2019s life and her baby\u2019s life,\u201d said Valarie Castile. \u201cI tell you it did. He (Yanez) stuck his gun in that car and shot with no regard for human life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reynolds and her 4-year-old daughter were both passengers of Philando Castile that fateful night when he was pulled over in Falcon Heights, just steps from the Minnesota State Fairgrounds \u2026 pulled over for a supposed broken taillight \u2026 pulled over for his \u201cwide set nose\u201d \u2026 pulled over for the 53rd<\/sup> time<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the time he was getting pulled over, I was the one getting infuriated. He was always calm. He was the one like, \u2018Mom, it will be OK.\u2019 I can only imagine that when he got pulled over (by Yanez) that he was like, \u2018hey, this is the routine. I give them my ID and I go about my way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, Philando Castile getting pulled over \u2026 targeted like many other Black men in America \u2026 was routine. Sadder is the reality that this time he didn\u2019t get to go about his way. Yanez unloaded seven shots into the car, killing Philando Castile after Castile volunteered to Yanez that he was legally in possession of a firearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are said to be five stages of grief \u2013 denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. During the Insight News<\/em> interview, Valarie Castile floated between three of them. She is well aware that her son was taken from her, thus, she has moved past denial. Not once did she allude to any instance of bargaining. Anger? Absolutely \u2026 and rightfully so. Depression? Tears trickled down Valarie Castile\u2019s cheeks at multiple times during the more than hour-long sit-down. Acceptance? That is a tricky one. How does one truly<\/em> accept the loss of a child? Yes, she has accepted that her days will continue on with the memories of her son, but not hearing his voice \u2026 not seeing his smile \u2026 not feeling his touch. More to the point, how does one accept the fact that the person responsible for the death of a beloved son was not brought to justice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat trial was a sham. It was pitiful. When that jury came back not guilty I was victimized again that day,\u201d said Valarie Castile, with a tone of both anger and sadness. \u201cThat trial was an illusion. It was strictly for show. That (Philando) was my seed \u2026 he was mine<\/em> and no man had the right to take him from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In accepting what has been done, Valarie Castile is working every day to exalt the legacy of Philando Castile \u2026 a beloved figure in the St. Paul Public Schools. Valarie Castile has formed the Philando Castile Relief Foundation \u2013 a foundation established to help other victims of gun violence, and to help others in need. In addition to her works, the Philando Feed Fund was established and has raised more than $80,000 to assist with providing meals to underprivileged students in the St. Paul School District. As a food services worker for the district, Philando Castile was known to come out of his own pocket to buy food for students who otherwise would have gone hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valarie Castile says she has a duty to work on Philando Castile\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLife is a journey, and everybody is here for a reason. We all have a destiny,\u201d said a resolute Valarie Castile. \u201cWe all witnessed Philando\u2019s destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mother of Philando Castile is determined to keep a positive light on her son\u2019s legacy Most of us spent last week surrounded by the love of family and friends, recounting the many reasons for which we are thankful \u2026 most of us. Valerie Castile was among family and friends, but her son \u2026 her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2709,2703,2793],"class_list":["post-4471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-jeronimo-yanez","tag-philando-castile","tag-valarie-castile","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Insight-News-Website-Images-2-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4473,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4471\/revisions\/4473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}