More than two years after he allegedly shot a man dead on a Village de l’Est soccer field, a Bronx man is in jail accused of what authorities describe as a retaliatory killing stemming from gang activity in New York.
Manuel Diaz, 34, was booked into Orleans Justice Center on Feb. 22 on second-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and illegal transmission of monetary funds, court records show.
Diaz is a “key member” of a New York-based criminal organization involved in murder, armed robberies and smuggling stolen goods that has spread into New Orleans, according to a motion by the State of Louisiana seeking to hold him without bond.
New Orleans police believe Diaz shot 21-year-old Maynos Luis Castillo in the back as Castillo played soccer in a park at 13519 Granville Street on Oct. 29, 2023.
Diaz ran to his blue SUV and drove off, pursued by soccer players and bystanders who hurled beer bottles at his fleeing vehicle, according to an affidavit supporting his arrest.
“Witnesses identified the victim as being from New York, and his murder may have been perpetrated by an individual from New York who was in the New Orleans area,” states the affidavit signed by magistrate judge Jay Daniels in Aug. 2025.
The investigation stalled days after the killing, until early 2025, when the FBI’s Violent Task Force and NOPD Det. Ryan Aucoin received information naming Diaz as the suspect, the affidavit states. Diaz’ cell phone records placed him at the scene at the time of the homicide, and an eyewitness identified him in a photo lineup.
Diaz’s cell phone records also tied him to a November 2024 armed robbery at a Little Woods apartment, where he and three other armed men allegedly laid in wait for a man and woman they had offered to sell a $1,200 piece of jewelry. Instead, Diaz allegedly forced the man to his knees, took his phone and transferred $2,000 to himself, then took $1,200 in cash from the woman waiting in the car.
The transfer was made to Diaz’s Zelle account, police said, and his phone records placed him at the scene of the armed robbery. A surveillance system photo also identified him as an assailant, the affidavit states.
Diaz was arrested in New York, where he is a permanent resident, and was extradited to New Orleans, state prosecutor Corbin Bates said at Diaz’s Thursday bond hearing in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
There, defense attorney Sarah Chervinsky described the evidence as circumstantial. Diaz, a U.S. citizen who works as a tow truck operator, has five children and a wife who was present in court, she said.
“The state has made allegations regarding him being a danger to the community, but I think at this point there is no concrete evidence being presented to the court to support those arguments,” Chervinsky said.
Magistrate commissioner Jay Daniels set bail at $960,000 and ordered Diaz to wear an ankle monitor should he post bond. If convicted of second-degree murder, Diaz faces life in prison.