Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar held a press conference Friday morning after Juan David Ortiz was transported back to the Webb County Jail following his eight-day trial in Bexar County.
Ortiz was found guilty of capital murder Wednesday and automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of killing four women in Laredo during 2018 — Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, 34; Claudine Anne Luera, 42; Janelle Ortiz, 28; and Melissa Ramirez, 29 — while one woman, Erika Peña, managed to escape from him.
“I thank Erika Peña, a survivor, for her courage and bravery from start to finish during the investigation and capital murder trial,” Cuellar said. “Peña provided key pieces of information to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office investigators to help identify Ortiz.”
Ortiz’s conviction is a result of the in-depth investigation by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office, lead investigator Capt. Federico Calderon, Criminal Investigative Division and the Sheriff’s Office intel unit, as well as Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and members of the DPS Crime Lab, the sheriff said.
“I also congratulate Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz and the Webb County District Attorney’s Office on a successful case preparation and prosecution,” Cuellar said.
Chief Scott G. Avant reiterated Cuellar’s statement that the outcome of this case would not have been possible without Erika Peña.
Peña told the jury she was scared after Ortiz picked her up at the bus stop and took her to score drugs and then to his home to have sex. Ortiz told her he was anxious because he had been “the next to the last person” to have sex with Ramirez and was concerned that investigators would find his DNA.
“It made me think that he was the one who might have been murdering,” Peña told the jury.
Peña sought help from a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper at a local gas station after escaping from Ortiz, and this eventually led to his arrest.
“She had the courage to stand up for herself and fight,” Avant said. “That’s obviously what kept her alive. She was able to give vital information to law enforcement and the sheriff’s team, led by Captain Federico Calderon assisted by the Department of Public Safety, they were able to put together the clues they had available to them step by step and come to a successful conclusion.”
Subsequently, the case preparation and execution by the District Attorney’s office and its team led to a judgment of guilty of capital murder, Avant said.
“We all continue to feel, hope and pray for the victims and their families and this tragedy that occurred at the hands of Ortiz,” Avant said. “We continue to keep them in our prayers and wish them well so they can move on.”
Ortiz is currently housed at the Webb County Jail under 24-hour supervision pending paperwork for him to be transferred, Cuellar said.
“He was brought yesterday by our personnel, and he is here in a cell by himself. It is being supervised 24-hours a day, seven days a week,” Cuellar said. “He will remain here a week or so until all the paperwork is done so we can transfer him.”
Captain Jaime Magaña said the officers in charge of supervising Ortiz document everything he does. He continues to be indifferent, Magaña said.
maria.salas@lmtonline.com