Former Border Patrol agent convicted of killing 4 women in Texas
12/08/2022 2:06 pm PST
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (TCD) -- A jury found a 39-year-old ex-Border Patrol agent guilty of killing four female sex workers within the span of about two weeks in 2018.
Juan David Ortiz was convicted in a Bexar County court Wednesday, Dec. 7 — almost exactly four years after he was indicted for the deaths of Melissa Ramirez, Claudine Luera, Guiselda Alicia Cantu, and Humberto Janelle Ortiz, and the aggravated assault of Erika Peña.
According to the Webb and Zapata District Attorney’s Office, on Sept. 14, 2018, at around 9 p.m., Peña went up to a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper in Laredo and said she went to a man named David’s house that night after he picked her up on San Bernardo Street. While at his home, Peña reportedly spoke to David about her friend Melissa Ramirez, who had been found dead the week prior, and David "began to act weirdly."
David and Peña got back in the car and he reportedly pointed a gun at her. She tried to escape, but he reportedly grabbed her shirt and tried to prevent her from leaving. Peña escaped and ran toward the trooper in the gas station for help. She led the trooper to his house and they saw a car that matched a description Peña gave. They identified Ortiz as the owner of the truck.
On Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, troopers found Ortiz at a gas station, and he fled on foot. He was later located in a hotel parking garage, where he had been hiding. While in custody, he reportedly admitted to assaulting Peña and killing Ramirez, Luera, Cantu, and Ortiz between Sept. 3, 2018, and Sept. 15, 2018.
The jury reportedly deliberated for about 4.5 hours before reaching the verdict.
According to KSAT-TV, during his 2018 confession, Ortiz said he "just wanted to clean up the streets if nobody is going to do it."
He first killed Ramirez on Sept. 3, 2018, by shooting her in the back of the head after they did drugs in his truck. On Sept. 13, 2018, he reportedly picked up Luera and shot her after she started talking about how they were in the vicinity of where Ramirez’s body was found. Luera reportedly died from her wounds at the hospital.
Ortiz met Peña on Sept. 14, 2018. He said in his confession, "We went to the gas station and that’s when she started acting crazy."
Ortiz reportedly showed her his gun, and Peña testified as his trial that he pointed it at her head.
After Peña escaped, he picked up Cantu and reportedly saw a large police presence in the area.
Ortiz said, "I pulled over under the overpass and told her to get out."
He reportedly told Cantu he murdered the other three women and he wanted to kill himself.
According to Ortiz, "She started telling me that God loves me and that God would forgive me. She walks away and walks back and I said, 'You aren’t listening to me,' and boom, boom."
Ortiz then reportedly spoke about killing Janelle Ortiz (no relation). He picked up Janelle Ortiz on San Bernardo Avenue and ordered her out of the car on Interstate 35, then shot her. Afterwards, he went to the gas station, where he fled from troopers.
KSAT reports Ortiz called his wife from the parking lot and said, "We were a great family. Take care of my babies. Don’t come back to Laredo."
The District Attorney’s Office said Ortiz will spend life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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