Witness in Fresno County killing testifies, despite threats from defendant’s sister
The trial of Juan Ortiz, a Mendota man accused of robbery and murder, began without him Monday, as the first witness provided key details of the night he’s alleged to have shot and killed Jose DeJesus Fuentes-Martinez.
Judge Gary D. Hoff told the jury Ortiz, 42, has refused to be present in the courtroom, but the trial will continue without him.
Ortiz faces a potential life sentence in prison if found guilty of murder. He also faces charges of dissuading a witness and being a felon in possession of a handgun.
Detectives allege the crime happened in the late night hours of May 29, 2015 when Ortiz and two women were supposed to be giving Fuentes-Martinez, 52, a ride from Mendota to Dos Palos.
The witness, who is not being identified by The Bee because of allegations of witness intimidation, testified Ortiz was driving while she and her friend, Joanna Solorio Maya and Fuentes-Martinez, were also in the truck. They stopped at a convenience store to buy some beer. A short time later Fuentes-Martinez asked to stop because he had to urinate.
Ortiz pulled his truck off of Highway 33 just outside of Firebaugh, near an irrigation canal, the witness testified. That’s when things began turning violent.
The witness said Fuentes-Martinez and Maya began arguing, then physically fighting as he was getting out of the back seat of the truck.
“I heard her say ‘why are you grabbing me,’” the witness testified. “Then they started fist fighting.”
At that point, she said Ortiz reached down underneath his seat and pulled out a gun. He got out of the truck and began walking towards Maya and Fuentes-Martinez, who were standing near the truck’s tailgate.
The witness testified Ortiz said: “Give me your wallet, I am not playing.”
Fuentes-Martinez refused and challenged Ortiz to a fight, the witness said. Prosecutor Deborah Miller asked what happened next. “He shot him,” the witnessed testified. “And he dropped.”
Ortiz then allegedly told Maya to move the body so he could maneuver his truck back onto the freeway, the witness said.
As the trio drove back to Mendota, the witness said Ortiz ordered her to ditch Fuentes-Martinez’s phone in the Mendota pool, a body of water at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and Kings River.
When they returned to Ortiz’s uncle’s home where he lived in the garage, Ortiz told the two women to clean the inside and outside of his truck.
“He wanted us to wipe it all down,” the witness said. “He also told us to take off our shoes and put them in a bag.”
The witness along with Maya were able to get away from Ortiz after calling a friend to come over and get her.
She testified that she made it home a short time later and told her brother what happened. He called 911.
Witness faced threats
Ortiz was arrested early the next day while walking about about two blocks from her house, she said. And even though Ortiz has been in jail since his arrest, the witness said he threatened her in 2016 through a Facebook post.
Ortiz’s sister, Sylvia Castro Garcia, was implicated in the social media threats. In March, 2017 she pleaded no contest to a felony charge of conspiring to dissuade a witness. She was sentenced to two years in prison.
“I got scared because people don’t like people who snitch,” she said. “And I didn’t want anything to happen to my kids.”
The other witness in this case, Joanna Solorio Maya, never made it to the witness stand. She was killed on July 13, 2016, outside an apartment complex in Mendota. Her murder remains unsolved.
During cross examination by defense attorney David Mugridge, the witness had trouble remembering some details about the alleged killing. Mugridge seized on her lapses in memory by alleging her drug use may have affected her ability to remember.
The witness admitted to using marijuana and methamphetamine in the past. She also was becoming increasingly irritated by Mugridge’s questions.
“I know what you are doing, you are trying to make me look like a monster,” she said. “The monster is locked up.”
The trial continues Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
