Victims' families confront Border Patrol agent who allegedly killed 4 Texas women

LAREDO, Texas – Families of the victims allegedly killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent got an early look at the defendant Thursday during a pretrial hearing.

Juan David Ortiz, dressed in a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit, shuffled into the fourth-floor courtroom of Webb County District Judge Oscar Hale, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles.

Four rows back in the visitors galley, a dozen family members of victims sat on wooden benches and watched. Some dabbed tears from the corners of their eyes; others stared directly at Ortiz.

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Ortiz, 35, is accused of killing four women during a 12-day killing spree last year. He's been charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

"I would want him to spend the rest of his life realizing what he has done – not only to our family but his family as well," Colette Mireles, sister of Claudine Luera, one of the slain women, said before the hearing.

Authorities allege that Ortiz picked up the four women – Luera, 42; Melissa Ramirez, 29; Guiselda Alicia Hernandez, 35; and Janelle Nikki Enriquez, 28 – on different occasions from Sept. 3 to 15, drove them to remote locations around Webb County and killed them each with gunshots to the head. All the women knew each other and were sex workers who congregated around a street in Laredo known for its sex and drug trade.

Investigators suspect Ortiz used his position as an intelligence supervisor in U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Laredo Sector to monitor the murder investigation as it circled in on him and stay ahead of detectives.

Police also found .40-caliber casings at the scene of each of the murders, consistent with the agency-issued .40-caliber HK P2000 semiautomatic pistol found in Ortiz’s truck when he was arrested Sept. 15.

At the hearing, Ortiz's attorney, Joel Perez, said he planned to file a motion asking to reduce Ortiz's bail, currently set at around $2.5 million. Webb and Zapata County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said his office would vigorously contest any bail reduction. Another pretrial hearing was set for Oct. 3.

"Based on the circumstances around the case, the horrific nature of the case, the amount of murders that we're dealing with, our position is that he is a danger to the community and we cannot take that risk," Alaniz said after the hearing.

Ortiz wasn't the only Border Patrol agent facing murder charges in a Laredo courtroom this week. Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles, a former Border Patrol agent, appeared in court on Tuesday during a pretrial hearing. He's accused of stabbing to death his girlfriend and their 1-year-old son in April 2018 and dumping their bodies in a Laredo park. Prosecutors are also seeking the death penalty in that case.

But it's Ortiz's case that most rattled this border city and drew international media attention after his arrest Sept. 15. The bodies of one victim after another were discovered along rural dirt roads in northern Webb County, sparking a massive manhunt that included the Webb County Sheriff's Office, Texas Rangers and other agencies.

Police collared Ortiz when a fifth would-be victim, Erika Peña, escaped from Ortiz's truck and notified authorities after he allegedly pulled a gun on her.

The killings strained residents' confidence with Border Patrol, whose agents still make up an integral part of the community, Mayor Pete Saenz said. He brought his concerns to the Border Patrol sector chief shortly after the killings occurred, he said.

"It truly brought the question: Why here in Laredo and why Border Patrol?" Saenz said. "It made me think: Maybe Border Patrol needs to take a look at how it recruits."

Thursday's hearing was more subdued than an earlier hearing with Ortiz, where Cristina Benavides, Ramirez's mother, stood and yelled at the defendant, "¡Asesino maldito!" or "Damn murderer!", as bailiffs led him out of the courtroom. No such outburst occurred Thursday and Ortiz mostly avoided eye contacts with the visitors.

The hearings are important because they prepare victims' families for what is expected to be a difficult and dramatic trial, said Angelica Perez, Luera's other sister.

"We need to face him now, to prepare for the trial," Perez said. "It's helpful."

Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Victims' families confront Border Patrol agent who allegedly killed 4 Texas women