‘I wanna face this’: 911 call reveals highway killing suspect’s confession
GANGES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — In the recording of a 911 call from inside a church in Allegan County, Brandon Ortiz-Vite can be heard confessing to the dispatcher that he committed murder.
“I’m calling ’cause I wanna turn myself in for a murder I committed two nights ago,” the suspect can be heard saying calmly in the recording.
The 911 recording was released to News 8 Thursday under a Freedom of Information Act request. It bleeps out Ortiz-Vite’s name, but he is the man charged with killing Ruby Garcia, 25, and dumping her body on US-131 in Grand Rapids. Court documents show he admitted to police that he shot her multiple times during an argument in her car on March 22.
Ruby Garcia murder suspect spent night at church before turning himself in
The call came from Ganges United Methodist Church two days later. In the recording, Ortiz-Vite can be heard explaining that he was in the back of the church and that a service was going on. He also admitted he was armed.
“I do have a gun on me, but when you guys come I will set it on the floor… I’m not going to use it or nothing, I’m cooperating,” he said. “I’m not gonna leave the scene, I’m gonna stay here. I wanna face this.”
Below, listen to the full 16-minute call:
He told the operator as he stepped outside the church and described his clothing — a Carhartt brown jacket and black jeans — at her request. He said he put the gun, which he described as a loaded 9 mm Taurus, on the ground near a mailbox.
“Can I just ask you one big favor please? When I turn myself in, I know they’re going to kill me in jail. They’re going to try to kill me. Can I be in solitary?” Ortiz-Vite asked.
The dispatcher reassured him that she would inform officers about his concern.
“They’re going to kill me, that’s a fact,” he added.
Throughout the about 16-minute phone call, Ortiz-Vite continued to tell the operator he was concerned for his life in jail.
“Can you please guarantee my safety in there?” he asked.
“Yep, my partner let them know that you want to be put into the solitary cell there so that they can’t harm you in the jail, OK?” the dispatcher replied.
“Please, please, please … just please, I don’t wanna die in jail, you know?” he said in a quivering voice. “I know that I committed a murder but I want to serve the time.”
“My partner said let him know that and we’ll make sure they understand that, OK?” the dispatcher reassured again.
Suspect in highway killing first came to U.S. as a child
Ortiz-Vite can be heard shivering.
“Are you cold? It sounds like you’re shivering,” the dispatcher asked.
“Yeah, it’s cold outside,” Ortiz-Vite replied.
“Have you been outside for two days?” she asked.
“Yeah, just on the run in the woods,” Ortiz-Vite responded.
“I know what I did was wrong, I just, I’ll do the time. I just don’t want to die inside,” he said. “The reason why I say that I’m gonna die inside is because I already got word that there’s a hit on me.”
Ortiz-Vite stayed on the phone with the dispatcher, carefully explaining where he would be and reiterating that he was not near the gun. She told him to put the phone on speaker and put it on the ground in front of him so responding officers would not think it was a gun and to keep his hands visible.
“When they (deputies) get there, I want you to just keep talking to them right like you’ve been talking to me,” the dispatcher said. “Keep staying calm and talk to them.”
“I have my hands up in the air,” Ortiz-Vite later told her as deputies got closer.
When deputies arrived, a dog could be heard barking while they gave Ortiz-Vite orders.
Hearing delayed for man who confessed to killing on US-131
Ortiz-Vite had spent the night at the church, the pastor previously told Target 8. The pastor said he identified himself as Brian and was clearly upset, though he didn’t tell her what he had done. She said he accepted her invitation to their 10 a.m. Palm Sunday service and sat at the back. She noticed he was gone sometime during her sermon. He had gone to the bathroom to call 911.
Ortiz-Vite called Garcia his girlfriend. Her family said they were seeing each other but were not in an exclusive relationship.
A former girlfriend said that Ortiz-Vite stalked her after they broke up and broke into her home on New Year’s Day 2018, standing over her bed. She said he ran away when she woke up and screamed at him. He ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor property crime that led to 30 days in jail. The woman filed for a personal protection order.
Ortiz-Vite first came to the U.S. illegally as a child but was allowed to stay under DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, according to immigration officials. He went to high school in Wyoming, graduating in 2017. His DACA status lapsed in 2019 and he was deported in September 2020,following a drunk driving arrest in Grand Rapids. He later returned to the country illegally, though it’s not clear exactly when.
— Target 8 investigator Ken Kolker contributed to this report.
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