Mendota man refused to attend his own murder trial. Here’s the jury’s verdict
Juan Ortiz, accused of fatally shooting a man and leaving him to die on a west-side ditch bank, was found guilty Friday of first degree murder.
The jury also found the 42-year-old Ortiz guilty of being a felon in possession of a weapon and dissuading a witness. The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Ortiz of Mendota guilty of robbing and killing 52-year-old Jose DeJesus Fuentes-Martinez.
Ortiz, who refused to attend his own trial, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, said prosecutor Deborah Miller. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21.
His attorney, David Mugridge, asked Judge Gary Hoff whether Ortiz would be required to attend his sentencing. Hoff said yes, and if he refuses he will be forced to be in court.
During the week-long trial, Miller presented evidence detailing how a simple plan to give Fuentes-Martinez a ride from Mendota to Dos Palos turned into murder and social media manipulation.
Detectives said Fuentes-Martinez was looking for a ride during the late-night hours of May 29, 2015. A friend of Ortiz put him in contact with Fuentes-Martinez, who agreed to pay $30 for the ride. Joining Ortiz that night were two female friends.
It wasn’t long before the drive turned deadly. One of the two women, Joanna Solorio Maya, accused Fuentes-Martinez of trying to grab her as they stopped in a remote area outside of Firebaugh, detectives testified.
Investigators said Fuentes-Martinez needed to urinate so he directed Ortiz to pull over to an isolated dirt road between a small ditch and a canal. As Maya was getting out of the truck, she began fighting with Fuentes-Martinez. She accused him of inappropriately touching her.
Ortiz then grabbed his gun, jumped out of the truck and confronted Fuentes-Martinez, said the woman passenger, who testified in court. She is not being identified by The Bee because of allegations of witness intimidation. Maya, the other passenger, never got the chance to testify. She was brutally murdered on July 13, 2016, outside an apartment complex in Mendota. Her murder remains unsolved.
The witness said Ortiz demanded Fuentes-Martinez’s wallet and he refused. Ortiz then fired a single shot, hitting the man in the chest.
Detectives said Fuentes-Martinez was left to die on the dirt road. His body was found the next day, just a few feet from where he was shot. Ortiz told Maya to drag the body out of the way of his truck.
Ortiz was arrested the next day while walking about about two blocks from the surviving witness’s home. She told police Ortiz was threatening her through posts on Facebook.
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.
