Killer Of Deputy Jerry Ortiz Held To Answer

It apparently hasn’t been printed in the news today but the killer of my friend, Deputy Jerry Ortiz

Was held to answer on all charges at his preliminary hearing today.

We tried to pack the court room with as many Deputies as possible to prevent any of the killer’s buddies from getting in and intimidating the witnesses.

Be that it may, some of the witnesses stated they could no longer remember what happened on that day. Even the witnesses who gave detailed descriptions of the incident, from beginning to end, on the day of the killing recanted their stories. Obviously they are being intimidated. Other’s have been relocated in the witness relocation program and gave excellent testimony.

The saving grace is all the witnesses who were interviewed the day of the killing were recorded.

UPDATE

Media reports here:

A gang member accused of shooting a sheriff’s deputy in the face in an ambush-style attack in Hawaiian Gardens last year was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and other charges.

After a 2 1/2-day preliminary hearing, Norwalk Superior Court Judge Philip E. Hickok ruled there was enough evidence to hold Jose Luis Orozco, 28, for trial for murder in the June 24 death of Deputy Luis Gerardo “Jerry” Ortiz of Diamond Bar.

The murder charge against Orozco includes the special-circumstance allegations of murder of a peace officer, lying in wait and murder to avoid arrest. The District Attorney’s Office may seek the death penalty, but no decision has yet been made.

Orozco was arrested hours after the shooting after being found hiding a few doors away, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Ortiz was a member of the anti-gang detail at the sheriff’s Lakewood station. He was checking identifications of people inside units of an apartment building in the 12200 block of East 223rd Street when he was shot in the face.

The deputy had been investigating an earlier shooting that also allegedly involved Orozco.

Two sisters, ages 6 and 9, testified via closed-circuit television during the preliminary hearing, according to the Press Telegram. The younger girl said Orozco was standing behind the door of her apartment and shot Ortiz while the deputy was talking to her mother, the newspaper reported.

Orozco also faces one count of attempted murder stemming from the earlier shooting — which happened four days before the 35-year-old Ortiz was shot — and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.

In the previous shooting, a man was shot in the back while doing yard work at a Hawaiian Gardens home, authorities said.

Orozco has prior felony convictions for auto burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon and resisting an executive officer, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Ortiz had married his third wife less than a month before his death. He also had two sons, then aged 6 and 16.

Thousands of mourners, most of them uniformed officers and deputies, attended Ortiz’s June 30 funeral at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles to pay tribute.

Orozco is being held without bond and will be returned to the Norwalk courthouse March 22 for an arraignment.

For more on Jerry go here:

• Jerry
• The Dishonor To Deputy Jerry Ortiz