By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Friends and family of murdered journalist Carlos Castro spread his ashes in Times Square Saturday.
Castro's sisters, Ferenanda Castro and Maria Elena Castro, had flown into the city from their native Portugal to honor their 65-year-old brother's wishes and spread his remains on Broadway, the New York Daily News reported.
The women said city officials granted permission for them to spread his remains at West 44th Street and Broadway, the News reported. They were poured into a subway grate.
The journalist's final resting place was just feet away from the InterContinental Times Square Hotel where his body was found beaten and castrated on Jan.7.
His companion, 21-year-old Portuguese model Renato Seabra, has been arrested and is being held at Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric observation.
During his indictiment Jan. 14, prosecutors said Seabra stomped on Castro's face so hard that he left shoe impressions on the elder man's skin.
A distraught Seabra, whose family insists is straight, reportedly told police that he castrated Castro to "rid him of his homosexuality".
Castro had been an outspoken proponent of gay rights in Portugal.
His family and friends held a memorial service and funeral in Newark before the ashes ceremony, the New York Post reported.
Seabra is next due in court Feb. 1.
