Man who helped kill a Tri-Cities mom of 4 is the last sent to prison for her murder
Michelle Hudnall’s absence is still felt by her family more than five years after her murder.
“You took a mother of four children and an only daughter from her mother,” her mom, Davietta Hudnall, wrote to Judge Diana Ruff. “Michelle is very much loved and we miss her every day.”
Ruff sentenced Florentino Jai Castillo last week to nine years in prison for his role in Michelle Hudnall’s death. Her body was found washed up on the shore of the Columbia River.
Castillo previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree manslaughter. He was originally charged with second-degree murder.
Ruff followed the prosecution’s recommendation for nine years, though under Washington state sentencing guidelines Castillo faced up to 12 years.
Michelle Hudnall’s boyfriend, Benny Lozano, 32, already is serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 2019.
And Guadalupe A. Sanchez previously pleaded guilty to first-degree rendering criminal assistance and was sentenced to a year and three months in prison for her role in helping to hide Hudnall’s body.
Michelle Hudnall grew up in Burbank and worked as a certified nursing assistant and other jobs over the years.
The 40-year-old West Richland mother had four kid who were from elementary-school age to 19 at the time she died.
Her family wasn’t able to attend last week’s sentencing, but submitted written statements telling the judge how her loss left a hole in their lives. Some of them asked that Castillo get the maximum sentence possible.
“You took a lot from me and my family when you murdered my mother,” one of her sons wrote. “Every time I think about it, all I feel is pain. ... My life feels empty without her and all I have now are memories.”
May 2018 murder
Investigators say Lozano and Castillo killed Michelle Hudnall on May 13, 2018, while riding in her van.
The men hauled her body into a Pasco apartment and then to the trunk of Sanchez’s car, according to court documents.
About 24 hours later, the trio drove north toward rural Franklin County and rolled her tarp-wrapped body down a steep embankment into the river, documents said.
Then they burned their own gloves and shoes in attempt to dispose of any evidence linking them to her murder.
Hudnall’s body was found about seven weeks later in July near Carbody Beach.