He allegedly killed man in front of wife, daughter out of gang allegiance. Now he’s on trial
Juan Ortiz was walking with his wife and 5-year-old daughter when a teenager gunned him down in a Selma neighborhood.
More than four years after the Oct. 30, 2015 shooting, the trial of Ortiz’s alleged killer began Monday in Fresno County Superior Court. Christian Angel Pacheco faces 50 years to life in prison if found guilty.
The 32-year-old Ortiz was on his way to pick up his son at a school bus stop when Pacheco, then 17, allegedly stopped him on Mitchell Avenue near Nebraska and asked him if he was in a gang. Ortiz said he was, Northside Bulldogs. And then shots rang out.
Police said Pacheco pulled out a handgun from his waistband and rapidly squeezed off seven rounds, hitting Ortiz in the head, arms and right leg. Ortiz died at Community Regional Medical Center.
Monday in Judge Timothy Kams’ courtroom, Ortiz’s widow, who asked not to be identified by the media out of fear of retaliation, testified that the killing was brutal.
“He fell to the floor face down and I just started screaming,” she said. “My daughter just saw her daddy get shot.”
She told her daughter to run as she tried to revive Ortiz.
“I remember turning him over and begging him to wake up,” she said. “But he never was able to say anything.”
Pacheco was arrested a short time later in a nearby apartment building after several witnesses identified him as the shooter.
Shooting near school
The shooting took place in the afternoon near Ringo Park and Eric White Elementary, where some students and staff were still on campus.
Two staff members testified Monday that although they didn’t see the shooting they heard the gunshots. At first they thought it might be firecrackers, but once they heard screaming, they knew it was a shooting.
“We turned toward where the screams were coming from and shortly thereafter we saw a man running towards us with a gun in his hand,” said Eric Offenheiser, a teacher.
The man, who the staff members later identified as Pacheco, ran within three to five feet from them. He was trying to hide the pistol with a towel or shirt, Offenheiser testified.
Police have alleged that Pacheco did the shooting to benefit or promote the Sureño criminal street gang’s standing in Selma.
A friend of Pacheco’s testified that she had known him for six months and did not know him to be a gang member. She also denied ever hearing Pacheco say he was going to shoot Ortiz.
The trial continues Tuesday.