The undocumented immigrant, who confessed to the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, was sentenced to 39 years in prison on Thursday.
Illegal immigrant pleads to fatal shooting
Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 26, deported under the Trump administration in 2020, illegally returned to the U.S. “at an unknown date” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Originally from Mexico, Ortiz-Vite shot Garcia on March 22 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and left her body by the roadside after a dispute.
Ortiz-Vite took a plea deal that swapped a first-degree murder charge for a second-degree charge, which landed him a term of 39 years in prison. The judge called him a “cold-blooded killer” during his sentencing.
In court, Ortiz-Vite told Garcia’s family, saying he was “overcome with guilt and shame.” He acknowledged, “I know right now my words hold little, if any, value to the Garcia family, which is understandable.”
A Michigan State Police sergeant testified that Ortiz-Vite and Garcia got into a verbal fight before Ortiz-Vite drew his firearm.
Forensic pathologist David Start confirmed that Ortiz-Vite shot Garcia four times, twice in the head.
Undocumented migrant turns himself in after fatal shooting
Two days post-murder, Ortiz-Vite dialed 911 to surrender. “I could have easily blown my brains out, but I wanted to accept my responsibility for my actions,” he declared during his sentencing hearing.
Ortiz-Vite most likely be deported back to Mexico after doing his time, Prosecutor Christopher Becker noted.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, an undocumented migrant was arrested after allegedly attacking a woman in a Florida field.
The quick-thinking victim signaled her distress to a dispatcher by calling 911 and pretending to order a pizza at 4:00 a.m. on October 19.
“I’d like to order a pizza. I’m so stuck in here,” the told them after she was sexually assaulted by the suspect.
Are you aware you’re calling 911?” the dispatcher asked, to which the woman replied, “Yes, I’m sure I’m calling that number. Trying to get a pizza.”
When the woman was asked for her address, the woman indicated that they needed to trace her location and said that the man refused to take her home.
They tried to ask her if she knew his name, or to give them her own, but the woman responded that she would “like an extra cheese pizza.” She also managed to confirm the suspect had hurt her.
Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies traced her phone’s location to a field in Pierson, north of Orlando.
Police save woman being attacked by illegal immigrant
Officers arrived in the nick of time, discovering Luis Diego Hernandez-Moncay, 27, pinning down the woman, who was screaming, “he’s trying to rape me.”
Their bodycam footage revealed officers ordering the suspect, who sought asylum just a day before the attack, to “get off her now.”
They tackled and handcuffed Hernandez-Moncay, ordering him not to move as the victim praised the Lord for their assistance.
The woman had known Hernandez-Moncay prior to the incident, but told police he became violent after snorting cocaine, Sheriff Mike Chitwood explained.
“She said he did a 180, and he became extremely violent and wouldn’t let her go and tried to rape her,” he noted.
Chitwood praised the victim for providing essential information and his teams for locating her promptly.
“When you watch the video, if you’re a father, if you’re a grandfather, if you’re a brother and you hear those screams coming from our victim, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up,” he said of the footage.
Hernandez-Moncay was arrested and faces charges of attempted sexual battery, battery by strangulation, and false imprisonment. He also has an immigration detainer from the US Border Patrol.
Hernandez-Moncay remains jailed on a $12,500 bond, but could be transferred to ICE custody once released by local law enforcement.
