Published
5 years agoon
This image shows Juan David Ortiz. (Webb County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
It all began with the discovery Sept. 4 of the body of 29-year-old Melissa Ramirez. According to court records, Ortiz said he killed Ramirez a day earlier. Like the other victims, Ramirez was shot in the head and left in a road in rural northwest Webb County.
According to the affidavit, Ortiz told investigators that after Pena ran off, he picked up his last two victims, whose identities have not yet been released by authorities.
Alaniz said one of the unnamed victims was a transgender woman. At least two were U.S. citizens; the nationalities of the others were not known, he said. He said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
Ortiz was believed to have acted alone.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a statement offering its “sincerest condolences” to the victims’ families and saying criminal activity by its employees is not tolerated.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, whose Texas Rangers are investigating, referred questions on the case to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Martin Cuellar did not return several messages seeking comment.
Jail records don’t list an attorney to speak for Ortiz, who had worked for Border Patrol for 10 years. He is the second Border Patrol agent in Laredo to be arrested on a murder charge this year after Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles was accused of killing a woman with whom he was romantically involved and her 1-year-old child. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in that case.
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