Police records describe conflicting accounts of the confrontation that killed Robert Piccirillo and led to murder and child-endangerment charges.
WEST HAVEN, CT — A Branford man was fatally stabbed while accompanying his younger sister to retrieve her two children from their father, according to police records detailing a confrontation at a West Haven apartment complex.
Robert Piccirillo, 35, died after the July 19 stabbing on Meadowbrook Court. Police arrested Wilkins Castillo-Marte, 24, of West Haven, and charged him with murder and two counts of risk of injury to a child. Castillo-Marte was being held on $1 million bail as of Friday, according to state records. The charges are allegations, and the case has not been decided in court.
West Haven police were called to the 200 block of Meadowbrook Court at about 5:20 p.m. for a report of a possible stabbing. Officers provided emergency aid before Piccirillo was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Police were told that the person believed responsible was inside a nearby apartment. Officers entered the residence and took Castillo-Marte into custody without a struggle.
The police report says Piccirillo had gone with his sister to pick up her sons, ages 3 and 10 months, from Castillo-Marte, the children’s father and the sister’s former boyfriend. The children were already secured in a vehicle when the adults’ earlier disagreement continued outside the apartment, according to the report and an account from Piccirillo’s family.
Castillo-Marte told investigators that Piccirillo watched the exchange from a distance with his arms crossed. He said he did not trust Piccirillo and believed Piccirillo might have a gun, the report says. Castillo-Marte also told police that Piccirillo made a comment that he interpreted as a threat. No gun was found, according to published accounts of the police report.
Castillo-Marte acknowledged pulling a knife but said he had not planned to use it, according to the report. He told investigators that Piccirillo was cut while trying to take the knife from him. That account differs from the statement given by Piccirillo’s sister, who told police that Castillo-Marte continued stabbing her brother as Piccirillo tried to run away.
The sister told investigators that she got into the vehicle with her children, locked the doors and called 911. Piccirillo’s twin sister, Brittany Rodriguez, later said the younger sister refused to open the vehicle when Castillo-Marte approached it. Rodriguez said she believed Piccirillo’s presence helped protect their sister and the two children during the confrontation.
Two relatives of Castillo-Marte who were inside the apartment also spoke with investigators. One said Castillo-Marte entered a bedroom after the confrontation holding a bloodied knife and said he had killed someone, according to the police report. The second relative also described seeing the knife. Those statements are part of the police investigation and have not been tested at trial.
Police initially described the killing as an isolated family-violence incident and said there was no continuing threat to the public. The two risk-of-injury charges are connected to the presence of the young children during the confrontation, according to court documents cited by local news organizations.
Rodriguez remembered her brother as caring, hardworking and devoted to his family. She said he had struggled with addiction and legal problems in the past but had been sober for about two years and was working in heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Piccirillo also leaves behind a daughter, a stepdaughter, his partner and other relatives, she said.
Castillo-Marte remained in state custody while the murder case proceeded in Superior Court. Police have not announced additional arrests, and authorities have not released further findings about the competing accounts of how the confrontation began.
Author note: Last updated July 25, 2026.