Van Nuys Tragedy: Mother Accused of Drowning Daughter Battled Mental Health and Immigration Fears

Van Nuys, CA — A dev­as­tat­ing tragedy has rocked a qui­et Los Ange­les neigh­bor­hood after 37-year-old Gra­ciela Castel­lanos was arrest­ed on sus­pi­cion of drown­ing her 7‑year-old daugh­ter inside their apart­ment bath­room. The inci­dent occurred Fri­day evening in the 15000 block of Gilmore Street, leav­ing a com­mu­ni­ty in shock and a griev­ing fiancé grap­pling with unimag­in­able loss.

“Mommy, Please No” — A Cry for Help

Accord­ing to neigh­bors, the sounds of dis­tress were unmis­tak­able. Around 7 p.m., mul­ti­ple res­i­dents report­ed hear­ing the young girl scream­ing, “Mom­my, please no,” just moments before police arrived at the apart­ment. First respon­ders found the girl unre­spon­sive in the bath­tub. Despite attempts to revive her, she was pro­nounced dead at the scene.

LAPD offi­cers arrest­ed Castel­lanos, who was report­ed­ly inside the apart­ment at the time. She was booked on sus­pi­cion of mur­der, with bail set at $2 mil­lion. As the com­mu­ni­ty mourns the loss of an inno­cent life, ques­tions now turn toward the men­tal health cri­sis that may have fueled this hor­rif­ic act.

A Gentle Mother, Until Everything Changed

The man who was plan­ning to mar­ry Castel­lanos in just two months spoke pub­licly, express­ing dis­be­lief at what tran­spired. Though he chose to remain anony­mous, he described Castel­lanos as a lov­ing, nur­tur­ing moth­er who nev­er showed vio­lence toward her daugh­ter or any­one else.

“She was very gen­tle. There was nev­er any yelling, nev­er any scream­ing. She loved that girl,” he said in a tear­ful inter­view. But he also acknowl­edged that Castel­lanos had strug­gled with her men­tal health for years — often with­draw­ing emo­tion­al­ly and becom­ing dis­tant when episodes would take hold.

He shared that she recent­ly expe­ri­enced a major emo­tion­al set­back relat­ed to her immi­gra­tion sta­tus. Her efforts to remain in the coun­try legal­ly had stalled, and that devel­op­ment appeared to push her into a dark and over­whelm­ing depres­sion.

“I think she just broke,” he said. “She was scared. She didn’t want to lose every­thing.”

Van Nuys Tragedy: Mother Accused of Drowning Daughter Battled Mental Health and Immigration Fears

Van Nuys, CA — A dev­as­tat­ing tragedy has rocked a qui­et Los Ange­les neigh­bor­hood after 37-year-old Gra­ciela Castel­lanos was arrest­ed on sus­pi­cion of drown­ing her 7‑year-old daugh­ter inside their apart­ment bath­room. The inci­dent occurred Fri­day evening in the 15000 block of Gilmore Street, leav­ing a com­mu­ni­ty in shock and a griev­ing fiancé grap­pling with unimag­in­able loss.

“Mommy, Please No” — A Cry for Help

Accord­ing to neigh­bors, the sounds of dis­tress were unmis­tak­able. Around 7 p.m., mul­ti­ple res­i­dents report­ed hear­ing the young girl scream­ing, “Mom­my, please no,” just moments before police arrived at the apart­ment. First respon­ders found the girl unre­spon­sive in the bath­tub. Despite attempts to revive her, she was pro­nounced dead at the scene.

LAPD offi­cers arrest­ed Castel­lanos, who was report­ed­ly inside the apart­ment at the time. She was booked on sus­pi­cion of mur­der, with bail set at $2 mil­lion. As the com­mu­ni­ty mourns the loss of an inno­cent life, ques­tions now turn toward the men­tal health cri­sis that may have fueled this hor­rif­ic act.

A Gentle Mother, Until Everything Changed

The man who was plan­ning to mar­ry Castel­lanos in just two months spoke pub­licly, express­ing dis­be­lief at what tran­spired. Though he chose to remain anony­mous, he described Castel­lanos as a lov­ing, nur­tur­ing moth­er who nev­er showed vio­lence toward her daugh­ter or any­one else.

“She was very gen­tle. There was nev­er any yelling, nev­er any scream­ing. She loved that girl,” he said in a tear­ful inter­view. But he also acknowl­edged that Castel­lanos had strug­gled with her men­tal health for years — often with­draw­ing emo­tion­al­ly and becom­ing dis­tant when episodes would take hold.

He shared that she recent­ly expe­ri­enced a major emo­tion­al set­back relat­ed to her immi­gra­tion sta­tus. Her efforts to remain in the coun­try legal­ly had stalled, and that devel­op­ment appeared to push her into a dark and over­whelm­ing depres­sion.

“I think she just broke,” he said. “She was scared. She didn’t want to lose every­thing.”

Plans for a Future That Never Came

The cou­ple had been engaged for over a year and were prepar­ing to legal­ly mar­ry so he could adopt the child as his own. They had already begun plan­ning a life togeth­er as a fam­i­ly, and he had tak­en on a parental role, say­ing he loved the child deeply and had promised to give her a sta­ble future.

“I was going to be her dad,” he said. “That’s what we were work­ing toward. I just can’t believe this hap­pened.”

He was not home at the time of the inci­dent and said he arrived short­ly after the emer­gency call had been placed. He now faces the unthink­able — the loss of a child he con­sid­ered his own and the arrest of the woman he was about to mar­ry.

A Broader Conversation About Mental Health

The tragedy has raised impor­tant con­ver­sa­tions about the inter­sec­tion of men­tal health, immi­gra­tion stress, and moth­er­hood. Castel­lanos’ fiancé shared that while her men­tal health con­cerns had been ongo­ing, she often kept her strug­gles to her­self, nev­er seek­ing for­mal psy­chi­atric help out of fear it could impact her immi­gra­tion case.

“This wasn’t a woman who was evil,” he said. “This was some­one who need­ed help and didn’t get it in time.”

As the inves­ti­ga­tion con­tin­ues, advo­cates and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers are call­ing for more robust men­tal health sup­port sys­tems — espe­cial­ly for immi­grants and sin­gle moth­ers who may feel iso­lat­ed or over­looked.

Ongoing Investigation

The LAPD con­tin­ues to inves­ti­gate the inci­dent, and an offi­cial cause of death will be con­firmed by the Los Ange­les Coun­ty Med­ical Examiner-Coroner’s Office. As of now, Castel­lanos remains in cus­tody and has not yet entered a plea.

Her fiancé hopes the pub­lic can approach this heart­break­ing sto­ry with com­pas­sion — not just for the lit­tle girl lost, but for the woman who may have unrav­eled under the weight of untreat­ed trau­ma.

“This wasn’t just one moment. This was years of pain, pres­sure, and silence that explod­ed,” he said. “And now, two lives are gone.”

Plans for a Future That Never Came

The cou­ple had been engaged for over a year and were prepar­ing to legal­ly mar­ry so he could adopt the child as his own. They had already begun plan­ning a life togeth­er as a fam­i­ly, and he had tak­en on a parental role, say­ing he loved the child deeply and had promised to give her a sta­ble future.

“I was going to be her dad,” he said. “That’s what we were work­ing toward. I just can’t believe this hap­pened.”

He was not home at the time of the inci­dent and said he arrived short­ly after the emer­gency call had been placed. He now faces the unthink­able — the loss of a child he con­sid­ered his own and the arrest of the woman he was about to mar­ry.

A Broader Conversation About Mental Health

The tragedy has raised impor­tant con­ver­sa­tions about the inter­sec­tion of men­tal health, immi­gra­tion stress, and moth­er­hood. Castel­lanos’ fiancé shared that while her men­tal health con­cerns had been ongo­ing, she often kept her strug­gles to her­self, nev­er seek­ing for­mal psy­chi­atric help out of fear it could impact her immi­gra­tion case.

“This wasn’t a woman who was evil,” he said. “This was some­one who need­ed help and didn’t get it in time.”

As the inves­ti­ga­tion con­tin­ues, advo­cates and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers are call­ing for more robust men­tal health sup­port sys­tems — espe­cial­ly for immi­grants and sin­gle moth­ers who may feel iso­lat­ed or over­looked.

Ongoing Investigation

The LAPD con­tin­ues to inves­ti­gate the inci­dent, and an offi­cial cause of death will be con­firmed by the Los Ange­les Coun­ty Med­ical Examiner-Coroner’s Office. As of now, Castel­lanos remains in cus­tody and has not yet entered a plea.

Her fiancé hopes the pub­lic can approach this heart­break­ing sto­ry with com­pas­sion — not just for the lit­tle girl lost, but for the woman who may have unrav­eled under the weight of untreat­ed trau­ma.

“This wasn’t just one moment. This was years of pain, pres­sure, and silence that explod­ed,” he said. “And now, two lives are gone.”