‘Are you loyal to him?’ Bradenton man avoids murder conviction in fatal shooting case

A Bradenton man avoided a murder conviction after refusing to give up the name of the person investigators believe shot and killed someone.

On Tuesday, a jury found Johnny Ordaz not guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm in the 2019 shooting death of Jerome Miller, who prosecutors say crashed his SUV into the Rooms to Go furniture store on Cortez Road after shots fired from Ordaz’s car struck and killed him.

Dustin Wagner, Ordaz’s attorney, told the Bradenton Herald Wednesday that he was “grateful this crime was not pinned on Mr. Ordaz because he looks a certain way,” but added that “there is a grieving family out there and their son’s killer needs to be brought to justice.”

If convicted, Ordaz could have been sentenced to life in prison, according to Florida Statutes.

Prosecutors didn’t try to convince the court that Ordaz was the gunman, but they did argue that he was the driver during the shooting. Because he was driving the vehicle, prosecutors said he “aided and abetted” the murder.

In a previous interview with the Bradenton Herald, Denise Miller, the victim’s mother, described her son as a loving father and a “good person.”

“I miss his hugs, I miss his kisses. I’ll miss him doing things with the kids. He was a daddy — a very good father to his kids” Denise Miller said.

Assistant State Attorney Ed Brodsky voluntarily disqualified himself from the investigation to avoid any conflict of interest due to the alleged shooter being related to someone in his office, according to an executive order issued by Governor Ron DeSantis.

The investigation was instead placed under the authority of statewide prosecutor Nicholas B. Cox, according to the memo.

A question of loyalty

Throughout their investigation, detectives said Ordaz would not cooperate and provide the name of the person who killed Miller.

In an audio interview played during the trial, a detective with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office tells Ordaz that he knows his “car was used in the shooting” and that they wanted Ordaz “as a witness,” but Ordaz refused to talk about the alleged shooter.

“Are you loyal to him?” Joseph Ravelo, an assistant statewide prosecutor, asked Ordaz about the alleged shooter during cross-examination.

“Yes sir,” Ordaz said.

Ordaz testified Tuesday that he was not driving the car when Miller, whom he called a longtime friend, was killed. Ordaz said he was sleeping at his then-girlfriend’s house when she woke him up to the news of Miller’s death.

“I was in shock at first. I didn’t know what was going on. I honestly didn’t believe it,” Ordaz said.

Bradenton man not guilty in fatal shooting

Ordaz said he saw Miller earlier that night at The Hall nightclub in Palmetto, where they hugged and chatted for a while.

But prosecutors said they didn’t believe that was the end of Ordaz and Miller’s interactions that night. They believe the shooting may have stemmed from an interaction at the club between the alleged shooter and another person who was with Miller that night.

Detectives said following a night out at the club, Ordaz drove the shooter, who is also known as “Boog” or “Booger” alongside Miller’s car. That’s when prosecutors say the shooter fired a gun at Miller, who was also known as “Maddball,” possibly intending to hit someone else.

“He pulled that car over closest to Madball’s car knowing Booger had a gun and knowing that Booger was about to unload, connecting eight times,” Ravelo said. “Jerome Miller’s life was taken while he was driving to a Waffle House.”

When detectives attempted to speak with the alleged shooter about Miller’s death, the man invoked a right to remain silent and was not brought into custody, according to an arrest report.

As of Wednesday afternoon, court records do not show pending charges against the person the sheriff’s office believes pulled the trigger.

Who was driving the car?

On April 6, 2019, at around 3 a.m., Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call at the Rooms To Go store at the northwest intersection of Cortez Road West and 14th Street West in Bradenton after reports of an SUV that crashed into the front of the building.

When deputies arrived, they said they found the white Audi SUV’s driver-side door riddled with eight bullet holes, with Miller inside suffering from a gunshot wound to his left hip and abdomen.

Paramedics rushed Miller to a nearby hospital where he died during surgery, according to detectives.

Detectives said a description of the car used in the shooting, a grey Infiniti Q50, led them to Ordaz. Surveillance video of a vehicle matching that description showed the car heading west on Cortez Road around the time of the shooting.

But whether Ordaz was driving the car that morning was a topic of debate during the two-day trial.

While on the stand, Ordaz testified that it isn’t uncommon for him to swap cars with friends or lend his car to others. On the night of the shooting, he said he was riding in a white Ford Mustang.

Ordaz also told the court that because his Infiniti was a newer luxury vehicle, he often rented his car out to others to help pay the expensive monthly payments, which he said were over $600 a month.

Ordaz’s sister also testified in his defense, telling the court that her car was in the shop for over a month at that time and her brother let her borrow his car.

According to Ordaz, he has dealt with the rumor that he helped kill Miller for years.

“It’s like being called a liar or a thief or something. You can’t really prove you’re not a thief,” Ordaz said.

Ordaz has multiple previous felony convictions, including possession of an unregistered short-barrel shotgun, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to court records.

A judge sentenced Ordaz in September 2021 to 12 years in federal prison for possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute and for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, according to a release issued by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

The two-day trial was presided over by Circuit Court Judge Frederick Mercurio in the Manatee County Judicial Center in downtown Bradenton.