Naman Shrestha
When the police discovered the remains of Melissa Ramirez in early September 2018, they had no idea that three more murders in a similar fashion would follow in the span of the next couple of weeks. It would be later found that a Border Patrol agent named Juan David Ortiz was the reason behind the horror and grief that had taken over the entire community of Laredo, Texas. The chilling multiple murder cases are the subject of the episode titled ‘The Streets of Laredo’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline.’ The documentary also features in-depth interviews with loved ones of the deceased, and the officials connected to the investigation.
Juan David Ortiz Targeted Sex Workers in the Laredo Area
Born on May 22, 1983, Juan David Ortiz joined the US Navy and participated in the Iraq war before becoming an integral member of the US Border Patrol. As far as his personal life was concerned, the St. Mary’s University graduate was married to Daniella J. Ortiz, with whom he shared three children. In 2018, he served as an intelligence operator for the Border Patrol while leading a double life as a killer. In the course of 12 days, between September 3 and September 15, 2018, he brutally murdered four women — Melissa Ramirez on September 3, Claudine Anne Luera on September 13, Guiselda Alicia Hernandez Cantu on September 15, and Janelle Ortiz on September 15 — by shooting them to death with a .40-caliber handgun along roads in Laredo, Texas.
Before claiming his last two victims on September 15, Juan had picked up 26-year-old Erika Peña the previous day, on September 14. Somehow, she managed to escape from the killer’s clutches after realizing that her life was in danger. Fortunately for her, there was a police officer at the nearby gas station to whom she confided. Not long after, the police identified the Border Patrol agent as the possible suspect in the murders of other women and visited his home, hoping to interview him. When they couldn’t locate him there, they launched a manhunt for him. The following day, the suspect and his car were spotted at a convenience store in Laredo. When the authorities tried to approach him and take him into custody, he fled the scene on foot and hid in the parking garage of the Ava Hotel.
Soon, as the investigators found him hidden in the bed of a truck, they arrested him and interrogated him at the police station. The interview was videotaped, during which he confessed to the gruesome murders he had committed leading up to his arrest. He referred to the victims as “trash” and “dirty” due to the fact that they were sex workers and claimed that the motive behind the killings was to “clean up the streets.” He stated, “I was like, you know what, these people, they’re not good people, so I convinced myself of that.” After the interrogation, the police charged him with four counts of murder, one count of unlawful restraint, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of evading arrest.
Juan David Ortiz is Incarcerated at a Texas Prison Facility Today
Despite giving a detailed taped confession to the police after his arrest, Juan David Ortiz claimed that it was coerced and decided to take his chances in court by pleading not guilty to the charges of murder and assault against him in January 2019. A couple of years later, on November 28, 2022, his trial began, during which the survivor, Erika Peña, took the stand and testified against the defendant. Moreover, his recorded 10-hour-long video confession was also presented in court as evidence. After an intense trial, the jury found Juan guilty of four counts of capital murder on December 7. On the same day, he was automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Soon after the conviction, Juan David Ortiz and his defense team appealed his conviction. However, the appeals court stated that there was “no error in the judgment” during the trial. Thus, on May 15, 2024, they denied the serial killer’s appeal to get a new trial in connection to the brutal killings of the four women in 2018. As of today, Juan David Ortiz is reportedly serving his life imprisonment sentence at the W. F. Ramsey Unit in Rosharon, Texas.
Read More: Erika Peña: Where is Juan David Ortiz’s Survivor Now?
