Judge denies motion to dismiss murder charge in parking lot shooting

May 23—ROCHESTER — An Olmsted County District Court judge ruled a man charged in a February shooting death will stand trial for intentional murder.

Isaac Gutierrez, 20, faces multiple charges including intentional murder in the shooting death of Osbel Ornelas, 24. Ornelas was killed during a fight in the Chick-fil-A parking lot on South Broadway in Rochester on Feb. 3, 2024.

In a hearing last week, Gutierrez's attorney Eric Newmark asked the court to dismiss the intentional murder charge on the grounds the state can't prove Gutierrez acted with intent.

Gutierrez is charged with one count of second-degree murder with intent; a count of second-degree murder, without intent and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to the other charges and entered a provisional not guilty plea on the second-degree murder with intent in a hearing last week.

Newmark said video shown in court of the incident taken by surveillance cameras and bystanders showed it was possible Gutierrez was wielding the firearm to strike Ornelas during a fight in the parking lot and that it went off unintentionally.

In her ruling, Judge Lisa Hayne said that argument could be put before a jury in trial, however, in the hearing, the burden of proof for prosecutors is lower and the video indicated Gutierrez was pointing the firearm at Ornelas when it went off.

Police say a road rage incident likely preceded the fatal shooting. Gutierrez and his brother Jose Gutierrez Ojeda, 26, are in custody from the incident. Both remained at the scene of the shooting at 1201 Broadway Ave. S, near Chick-fil-A when police arrived. Ojeda initially told police he had shot Ornelas in self-defense. Hayne notes the video clearly shows Gutierrez firing the only shot.

A pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for July 12.