Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, has entered a guilty plea to charges stemming from the murder of his girlfriend, Ruby Garcia, whose body was found beside US-131 in March, multiple sources report. As part of a plea deal, Ortiz-Vite pled guilty to second-degree murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon, and felony firearm according to WOODTV. The agreed-upon sentencing range is 30 to 37 years in prison plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence on the felony firearm charge, with sentencing scheduled on October 31.
The decision to accept the plea deal arose after consideration of the uncertainties involved in a trial. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker stated, "There’s much more certainty with a plea than if you take it to trial," as detailed in his interview with WOODTV. The family of Garcia, desiring assurance of prison time over the risks of a trial, were consulted and wished for the plea deal to move forward. According to the Mid-Michigan NOW, Becker conveyed an understanding of the family's standpoint: “People might say there should be no plea option in cases like this, but you're not the family going through this.”
Details of the crime were revealed in court. Ortiz-Vite confessed that on the night of the murder, he reached for a handgun and shot Garcia multiple times during a fight that ensued after she told him to exit her car, as per information gathered by a Michigan State Police sergeant and reported by Mid-Michigan NOW. Ortiz-Vite later turned himself in, making a call from a church to 911 and saying, “I am calling because I want to turn myself in to a murder I committed two nights ago."
Ortiz-Vite has had a complex history with immigration authorities in the United States. After first entering the country illegally as a child, he was approved under the DACA program but was later deported following a drunken driving arrest, said officials. Details regarding his re-entry into the U.S. after his deportation are uncertain, as reported by WZZM13. Following the completion of his sentence, immigration authorities will assume custody of Ortiz-Vite.
