A year after STEM shooting, parents find comfort at grave

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Every day, John and Maria Castillo drive to the Seven Stones Botanical Gardens Cemetery in Littleton to be with their only child, Kendrick.

Maria cannot kiss her son anymore, so she kisses his smiling, bespectacled prom picture perched atop his grave. John Castillo plants a kiss on the grave stone, which is adorned with all of Kendrick’s favorite things: a Chick-fil-A cow, a miniature Jeep, a can of Coke. It is their daily routine ever since their son, an 18-year-old high school senior, was killed last May when he leapt from his seat in English class to take down an armed classmate.

The Castillos sometimes bring over Adirondack chairs, a cooler of water, some fresh Columbine flowers. Some summer nights, they’ll sit with Kendrick for hours, the sun setting over the towering Rocky Mountains. The cemetery workers know the Castillos, who often are the last visitors to leave, and they will lock up after the parents feel it’s time to go home.

In the winter, with the snow deep and the wind howling, John and Maria clear a patch in front of his grave before they say goodnight to their son.

“When we’re there, we feel good,” John Castillo said. “I can’t imagine not doing it. Our love is that great for our son.”

On May 7, 2019, two teenage students barged into the STEM School Highlands Ranch with pistols and a rifle. On that day, Kendrick Castillo did not listen when his armed classmates told everyone not to move. Instead, he charged them, likely sparing the lives of other students but sacrificing his own.

That day, the Castillos became part of a group that former Columbine High School principal Frank DeAngelis calls the “club no one wants to be a member of.”

Since their son died, the Castillos have advocated for new legislation in...