A 25-year-old Michigan woman who was found dead along a Grand Rapids, Michigan, road was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant who was deported to Mexico in 2020 under the Trump administration.
As reported by Fox News, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, currently being held at the Kent County, Michigan, jail is being charged with felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony use of a firearm in connection with the death of Ruby Garcia. The pair had been in a romantic relationship at the time of the killing, police said Tuesday at a news conference.
Ortiz-Vite Re-entered the Country Illegally, Confirmed ICE
In a statement to Fox News, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed that Ortiz-Vite was in the country illegally at the time of Garcia’s death.
Ortiz-Vite, 25, “was arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit on Aug. 31, 2020, and served a notice to appear. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Sept. 24, 2020, and was removed to Mexico Sept. 29, 2020,” a spokesperson for ICE told Fox News Digital. “At an unknown date and location, Ortiz-Vite re-entered the United States without inspection by an immigration official.”
Ortiz-Vite Confessed to Killing Garcia Following an Argument
Garcia’s deceased body was found with gunshot wounds by Michigan State Police troopers with apparent gunshot wounds around 11:38 p.m. on Friday, March 22. Her vehicle was found the following day, parked in a residential area.
At the crime scene, detectives found Garcia’s phone and upon further investigation, found found texts between her and Ortiz-Vite where the two had agreed to meet the night she was killed, just an hour before investigators say it happened.
On Sunday, March 24, Ortiz-Vite called 911 and turned himself in with blood still on his clothes. He admitted to shooting Garcia multiple times while in the vehicle after an argument. He told investigators he then exited the vehicle and walked around to the driver’s side. He shot her again before removing her body from the vehicle. He said he then drove the car away from the scene before abandoning it.
Ortiz-Vite was arrested and booked into jail. He was arraigned Tuesday and ordered held without bail, Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Becker told reporters. “So this is another case of domestic violence homicide,” he said.
