Minnesota woman's troubled past leads to questions about infant's sudden death

For the past six years, the life and times of Stephanie Castillo, 42, of Eden Prairie, Minn. have been riddled with controversy. Now, it appears recent events have brought tragedy into her life.

Court documents say Castillo drove her 2-month-old son Leo to Fairview Southdale in Edina, Minn. on July 18. Within 40 minutes he was dead. Investigators say 20 minutes after hearing of her son's death, Castillo was asking how soon death benefits would be paid. Later that day, the documents go on to say that doctors recall her becoming “unusually upset” after hearing an autopsy would be performed on Leo.

Finding her behavior and prior history suspicious, Eden Prairie police served a search warrant on Castillo’s blue minivan. That minivan was the same one she used to take her son to the hospital, and the same one we found her sitting in on Tuesday when we went to her house looking for her side of the story. 

Castillo declined to comment to Fox 9 on the death of her son.

However, Castillo is no stranger to law enforcement.  In January of 2015, she was charged with eight counts of embezzlement, totaling $1.3 million. The alleged thefts all involved her former employer Balderson Management. Investigators say Castillo would forge checks and log fake invoices, something she had been doing since 2009.

Court documents say that pending case is a big reason why investigators think her son’s death is so odd.

The autopsy has not yet been completed, and so far no charges have been filed in the case.