Chucho in Griselda: What happened to him and was his son really killed?

Here's what you need to know about Chucho in Griselda, and what happened to the real Jesus 'Chucho' Castro in real life.

Since the release of the Netflix series Griselda, fans have been desperate to know more about the real-life people who worked for the Colombian drug lord, Griselda Blanco. Viewers have been desperate to learn about what really happened to Carmen Guttierez, June Hawkins and what happened to Griselda Blanco's three husbands. Fans are also desperate to know what happened to Chucho, who was recruited by Griselda when she met him working in a local diner when she first moved to Miami.

Chucho was Griselda's first employee who she recruited as her bodyguard after meeting him while he was working in a diner. He was a close confidant of Griselda's until episode five when he didn't attend Dario's birthday and she decided to turn on him. While heavily fuelled on crack cocaine she decided he was the informant in her circle and needed to be killed.

In the penultimate episode, Griselda's son Dixon shows up at Chucho's door and tries to get him to hide the gun he just shot several times in a nightclub. Chucho punches him and refuses to protect him, which leads Dixon to run to Griselda and insist that he teach Chucho a lesson.

Griselda decides that Chucho must be the informant as he refused to help Dixon and was missing during the party for Dario. Rivi in Griselda is ordered to kill Chucho, but he misses when he shoots at Chucho's car and instead accidentally shoots his two-year-old son Johnny who was asleep in the backseat. Chucho and his wife then leave Miami. But what happened to them in real life and did his son really get killed?

What happened to Chucho's son in real life?

The events depicted in Griselda are accurate and Chucho's son Johnny was killed when he was shot at just two years old. Per an article from the New York Times in 1982, George Cadavid, a Miami police homicide detective, told the outlet that Chucho refused to carry out an unspecified order and, ''for that reason, they wanted to kill him.'' 

"His kid was sleeping on his shoulder,'' said the Miami detective to the Times, ''and when the guy leaned forward, the kid was shot twice.''

In the series, Johnny's death upsets Griselda and signals the end of her reign as a drug smuggler. However, there are conflicting reports about her remorse, with many suggesting she was pleased with the outcome. Police Sargent Al Singleton told the Times she was pleased Johnny died, "because it would upset the father." He was informed about her 'glee' by Max Mermelstein, a former Medellin cartel boss who became a key informant.

Similarly, Rivi reportedly told police, "At first she was real mad ‘cause we missed the father," he added, "But when she heard we had gotten the son by accident, she said she was glad – that they were even."

What happened to Chucho after his son's death?

Per DMT, Chucho left his son's body at a Catholic Church and disappeared for a long time. It was speculated that he likely gave evidence against Griselda Blanco and Rivi Ayala as in August 1988, six years after Johnny was killed, Rivi was found guilty of Johnny's murder. Similarly, in October 1998, Griselda was convicted for attempting to murder Chucho Castro. 

Since the 1980s there hasn't been any more information about where Chucho is now. It is likely that following the death of his son, he left Miami and the drug world behind to start afresh.