Fresno judge sets multi-million dollar bail for alleged shooter in star athlete’s death
Joseph Ornelas of Sanger made his first court appearance Thursday after being charged in the shooting death of Lee Major III, a young father and standout high school athlete.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge James Kelley set Ornelas’s bail at $6 million. Ornelas is facing four felony counts, including murder and three attempted murder charges.
Ornelas is accused of shooting Major and several others after he was asked to leave a party at a Fowler home on Sunday. Around 2 a.m. officers with the Fowler Police Department and deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of gunshots at a home on the 200 block of E. Adams Ave.
When they arrived they found several victims, in their late teens to early 20s, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Major died at the hospital. The other shooting victims were treated and released.
Detectives arrested Ornelas on Monday. He was due to enter a plea to the charges on Thursday, but his attorney Joel Murillo asked the judge for a continuance. Muriillo wanted to review the evidence against Ornelas so the judge reset the arraignment to Jan. 13.
Muriillo said that while the Ornelas family is sorry Lee Major is dead, his client denies any responsibility for his death.
Nearly 30 people attended Thursday’s hearing, some wearing white sweatshirts with a photo of a smiling Lee Major on the front and on the back. The shirts had in printed letters: “BELOVED SON BROTHER FATHER 8/15/99 - 12/15/19.
Major’s father Lee Major Jr. wore several of his son’s athletic and academic medals to the hearing. Major was a star athlete at Fresno High School were he played football and basketball.
Major’s father urged the small crowd that gathered outside of the courthouse not to feel angry over Lee’s death.
“I have forgiven him (Ornelas) because that is the only way I can sleep at night,” he said. “When you believe in God that is the only thing you can do to move on.”
