On the night of Monday, May 15, 2017, gunfire on Federal Street in Passaic, New Jersey, left 23-year-old Hansel Castillo mortally wounded in a drive-by shooting at about 11:21 p.m. Castillo was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson and died of his injuries the next day, Tuesday, May 16, 2017. A second victim, a 20-year-old man from Woodland Park, survived treatment for non-life-threatening wounds.

Investigators arrested two men in connection with the attack: Nelson J. Vargas, 24, of Lodi, and Christopher Reynoso, then 22, of Passaic. Both were charged by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office with first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and multiple weapons offenses. Authorities were examining whether Castillo and the other victim had been the intended targets.

A jury later returned guilty verdicts in June 2022 against Vargas and Reynoso on murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and weapons counts. Anyone with information about Hansel Castillo or the shooting is asked to come forward.