By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
September 16, 2018
Laredo, Texas - On Saturday, Juan David Ortiz, 35, a 10 year veteran with the U.S. Border Patrol in the Laredo sector was booked and charged with 4 felony murder counts, cash bond set at $500,000 ($500K) for each count totalling $2M and one count each for unlawful restraint, cash bond set at $250K; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, cash bond set at $250K and evading arrest, cash bond set at $3K involving four deceased women including a transgender female, according to the Webb County Sheriff's Office (WCSO). If convicted on all counts, especially capital murder, Ortiz is facing the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
Ortiz is an intel supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol and is a former U.S. Navy veteran and has a Masters degree.
The WCSO says a two week investigation led to the discovery of 2 female bodies in a rural Webb County location and one body was located on Friday night and another body was found around noon on Saturday along Highway I-35 near mile marker 14 north of Laredo.
Authorities were tipped off about the serial killer after a fifth female victim identified as Erika Peña who escaped abduction from the killer on Friday and identified Border Patrol Agent Ortiz as the suspected killer.
Ortiz apparently pulled a gun on Peña and she escape from the vehicle and contacted the authorities.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz confirmed that Ortiz was taken into custody by Texas state troopers at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Hotel Ava parking lot in the 800 block of Garden St. without incident.
According to investigators, all the women that Ortiz targeted were prostitutes and were picked up between the 2700 to the 4700 block of San Bernardo Ave., a known prostitution hub near downtown Laredo.
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar says that a joint team effort by the Webb County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety (State troopers), the Texas Rangers and the Webb County District Attorney's Office were involved in the serial homicides investigation.
Sheriff Cuellar says that they believe Ortiz acted alone.
Ortiz confessed to the murders according to an affidavit including fatally shooting one female and a transgender victim in the back of the head after telling them to get out of his vehicle.
Investigators are trying to determine the motive that led Ortiz to target prostitutes and murder them, then dumping and leaving their bodies in rural locations in Webb County.
Two of the female victims have been identified as Melissa Ramirez, 29, of Laredo who was found deceased on September 4 at the 300 block of Jefferies Road near the intersection of Camino Colombia and Claudine Anne Luera, 42, whose body was found near mile marker of 436 on Texas Highway 255. Luera was found shot multiple times in the head and barely alive and was transported to a local hospital where she later died.
One deceased victim has not been identified by authorities.
Ortiz is an intel supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol and is a former U.S. Navy veteran and has a Masters degree.
The WCSO says a two week investigation led to the discovery of 2 female bodies in a rural Webb County location and one body was located on Friday night and another body was found around noon on Saturday along Highway I-35 near mile marker 14 north of Laredo.
Authorities were tipped off about the serial killer after a fifth female victim identified as Erika Peña who escaped abduction from the killer on Friday and identified Border Patrol Agent Ortiz as the suspected killer.
Ortiz apparently pulled a gun on Peña and she escape from the vehicle and contacted the authorities.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz confirmed that Ortiz was taken into custody by Texas state troopers at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Hotel Ava parking lot in the 800 block of Garden St. without incident.
According to investigators, all the women that Ortiz targeted were prostitutes and were picked up between the 2700 to the 4700 block of San Bernardo Ave., a known prostitution hub near downtown Laredo.
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar says that a joint team effort by the Webb County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety (State troopers), the Texas Rangers and the Webb County District Attorney's Office were involved in the serial homicides investigation.
Sheriff Cuellar says that they believe Ortiz acted alone.
Ortiz confessed to the murders according to an affidavit including fatally shooting one female and a transgender victim in the back of the head after telling them to get out of his vehicle.
Investigators are trying to determine the motive that led Ortiz to target prostitutes and murder them, then dumping and leaving their bodies in rural locations in Webb County.
Two of the female victims have been identified as Melissa Ramirez, 29, of Laredo who was found deceased on September 4 at the 300 block of Jefferies Road near the intersection of Camino Colombia and Claudine Anne Luera, 42, whose body was found near mile marker of 436 on Texas Highway 255. Luera was found shot multiple times in the head and barely alive and was transported to a local hospital where she later died.
Luera was killed on September 13 after she accused Ortiz of being the last person to be seen with Ramirez before she was found dead. Luera is survived by five children, which two are autistic. Ramirez is survived by two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy.
A transgender female, Humberto "Janelle" Ortiz, 28, was also fatally shot in the head by Ortiz.One deceased victim has not been identified by authorities.
Other homicides and deaths by U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Laredo sector:
• On June 27, 2018, Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles, 29, a supervisor with the U.S. Border Patrol in Laredo sector was charged with capital murder for the April 9th stabbing homicide of his girlfriend, Grizelda Hernandez, 27, and Dominic Alexander Hernandez, 1, their son whose throat was slashed by Burgos-Aviles. Burgos-Aviles was suspended indefinitely without pay from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
• On May 23, 2018, Romualdo Barrera, 47, a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the Laredo sector fatally shot Claudia Patricia Gómez González, 20, an undocumented immigrant originally from San Juan Ostuncalco, Guatemala. González was unarmed and running away from Barrera who fatally shot her behind the head in Rio Bravo, located in Webb County. The CBP hasn't officially released his name because he was involved in a shooting incident while on duty and the FBI has an ongoing investigation. The FBI and the CBP haven't determined whether to charge Barrera with a homicide. The Webb County Medical Examiner declared González death a homicide.
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