Gina DeJesus’ Mother Says She Would Forgive Ariel Castro

Gina DeJesus’ mother Nancy Ruiz

Nancy Ruiz, the mother of Gina DeJesus, has told reporters that she would forgive her daughter’s suspected kidnapper, Ariel Castro, Ruiz was speaking to ABC’s 20/20.

In the interview Ruiz stated:

I would hug him and I would say, ‘God bless you.’ I would say, ‘God bless you,’ and I’d hug him. I did not hate him. I forgave him years ago. I said it: I forgive whoever done it, just let her go.

Castro is accused of keeping Gina Dejesus, along with Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry as his sex slaves, locked in his home for over a decade.

It’s known that Castro and Ruiz new each other for years, growing up together in the same neighborhood in Cleveland. The Daily News reports that Ruiz’ sister:

…lives just 2½ blocks from the home where DeJesus was chained up in the basement. Ruiz would walk past the home herself regularly.

Ruiz added to ABC 20/20:

Because you know what? When you start to hate a person, that eats you up. I don’t have time for that. I have to be, you know, I want to be happy, like I am now

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Also speaking to ABC News, Ariel Castro’s cousin, Maria Castro Montes, wasn’t so forgiving:

I wouldn’t be able to look at him. I couldn’t say anything to him. Why? Shame on you? How could you do this? I don’t even want to ask him those questions. I don’t even want to look at him.

When I saw him, I loved him, this is a man who I loved. This is a man who was a family member. This is a man who has his own family. He has kids, he has grandkids. Those are the ones who have to be suffering the greatest. I don’t even know what to say to his kids