A 21-year-old Oviedo man who killed his mother last year pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Joshua Ortiz was charged with first-degree murder last December for the death of his mother.

The body of Jacqueline Ortiz, 45, was found inside their home at 3477 Woodley Park Place in Oviedo on Oct. 19, 2014.  An autopsy revealed Jacqueline Ortiz died of asphyxiation.

Ortiz left the area and was arrested in Maryland after he was pulled over on Interstate 95 outside of Baltimore driving his mother's Mustang convertible.

In court Wednesday, Ortiz’s grandmother, father and brother all gave statements just before the judge sentenced him.

Joshua Ortiz wiped tears from his eyes as his family, one by one, told him what they think about him killing his mother – Jackie Ortiz

His father, Carmelo Ortiz, told the judge the family struggled with Ortiz’s psychological problems – and tried to get Ortiz help for many years.

“All I ask is that he continues to get the help he needs, so he will progress and make something out of his life.  It’s not over.  I will always be here for you and I will always love you.  I’m always going to be your father.  We love you very much.”

“Look what you’ve done.  You’ve crushed the very people that love you,” said his grandmother Anne Anthony. “She loved you so much, she would not let you be homeless or hungry.  You have to be a very, very sick person to have done what you did.”

Carmelo Ortiz went on to tell the judge that 30 years in prison is too much.

“And I know if the roles were reversed and his mother would be standing right here, she would say the same thing."

“The system failed, I would say, to the extent that there’s not more treatment facilities available for children and young adults that have drug problems, and mental health issues,” said defense attorney Thomas Greene.

Earlier this year, Joshua Ortiz was ruled incompetent to stand trial, but then he was ruled competent.  He’s now on his way to a correctional facility where he’ll serve out his sentence until he’s 51 years old.


PREVIOUS STORIES

Jacqueline Ortiz