26-year-old José Davila-Gali Charged With The May 15th Homicide Of Juan Luis Estela Ortiz, 28, In Milwaukee's Southside

Davila-Gali was connected to the May 15th homicide of 28-year-old Estela Ortiz by driving a stolen truck seen at the crime scene.

By H. Nelson Goodson 

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

June 7, 2022

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Monday, José Davila-Gali, 26, was charged with 1st-degree intentional homicide for the May 15, 2022 homicide of Juan Luis Estela Ortiz, 28, at the 1900 block of W. Lincoln Ave. in the Southside of Milwaukee.

If convicted, Davila-Gali is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. On Tuesday, bail for Davila-Gali was set $750,000.

According to the criminal complaint, Davila-Gali had waited for Estela Ortiz to leave a local Southside bar and when the victim got in his vehicle, Davila-Gali came out from some nearby bushes and fired a 9mm Cal. Taurus handgun multiple times and reloaded the gun again and continued to fire at the vehicle Estela Ortiz was in.

Estela Ortiz died at the scene of multiple gunshots and had dozens of bullet wounds. Police recovered 48 spent casings from a 9mm handgun at the crime scene. The vehicle had at least 42 bullet strikes.

A near by surveillance camera video captured Davila-Gali driving away from the crime scene in a truck. Police discovered that the truck had been reported stolen on May 7th.

On June 1, a police officer spotted the truck at the 1200 block of W. Lincoln driving into a gas station. Davila-Gali noticed a police squad nearby and he got scared and fled the scene as police pursued him and a female passenger in the truck, according to the criminal complaint.

Davila-Gali went through multiple stop signs while speeding and a red light until he finally stopped near the 1500 block of W. Lincoln and surrendered to police. While police searched the truck and the female passenger, they found a 9mm handgun with more than 30 bullets in the female's purse.

When forensic ballistic tested the handgun with crime scene spent casings, they found that it was the same gun used to murder Estela Ortiz.

Also, when police reviewed photos from Davila-Gali's cellphone, they found photos of him posing with the handgun and the stolen truck.

Several witnesses saw the shooting and Davila-Gali firing continuously at Estela Ortiz's vehicle, a Toyota Metrix model, including one witness that noticed Davila-Gali hiding behind some bushes and then coming out to kill Estela Ortiz.