Menifee police have arrested a man in connection with the stabbing death of a local woman, found unresponsive in her home this past weekend. The victim, identified as 60-year-old Dixie Ortiz, was discovered lying on the floor with blood on her face in the 27000 block of Adams Avenue, said the Menifee Police Department. According to a statement obtained by CBS Los Angeles, paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene with no apparent injuries initially visible.
After a detailed examination of the scene, investigators found that Ortiz had a wound consistent with a stab injury, as noted in a press release on the official Facebook page of the City of Menifee-Police Department. The suspect in the murder, subsequently brought into custody, was 31-year-old Vicente Ortiz, also from Menifee, and a family member of the deceased.
The arrest came about following an investigation into the suspicious circumstances of Ortiz's death. Upon their arrival at the scene on Friday evening after a call was received around 6 p.m., authorities first thought the woman might have fallen and been unresponsive due to an accident. However, the discovery of the stab wound redirected the course of the investigation towards homicide, leading to the arrest of Vicente Ortiz the next day. Authorities initially did not reveal a possible motive for the incident.
Vicente Ortiz is now facing charges under California Penal Code 187 – Murder, as he remains in custody at the Cois Byrd Detention Center. Detectives are still actively piecing together what might have sparked this fatal confrontation, with Detective Alcala leading the inquiry. The Menifee Police Department urges anyone with information relating to this case to reach out to them at (951) 723-1607 or via email to Detective Alcala at [email protected]," the press release stated.
