Fred Valdamar Ortiz, 41, of Utah, was charged with striking his pregnant girlfriend after she was discovered with a black eye. As per police papers, the lady, a dog breeder, had a group of individuals at her home seeking a puppy when she informed them that Ortiz had beaten her two days previously, inflicting the injuries.
The claim didn’t sit well with the group. Sickened that a person would inflict a black eye on his pregnant fiancée, the group erupted into an angry mob and pursued the culprit after he was seen riding past on a scooter. The enraged group, consisting of a 13-year-old, dashed out of the house after spotting the suspected woman abuser.
On a Monday afternoon, at least six individuals mobbed Ortiz behind Smith’s grocery store in Magna after one accused, subsequently identified as 19-year-old Osyeanna Martinez, allegedly ran him down with a car. Although Ortiz apparently proceeded to flee after being hit by a car, his assailants pursued him and were soon upon him.
After driving him down and slamming him with a Volkswagen Beetle, the irate crowd then started assaulting Ortiz, and they didn’t show any compassion. Rather, security footage from a nearby restaurant showed Martinez throwing two boards at Ortiz’s back and head, followed by punches and kicks. Furthermore, the enraged crowd allegedly assaulted him with a rod while he was on the ground.
The enraged crowd refused to let up until Fred Valdamar Ortiz paid the ultimate price for his supposed crime. When Unified Police Department police arrived at the scene behind Smith’s grocery store at 8055 West 3500 South at 2:30 p.m., they discovered Ortiz unresponsive and not breathing. Ortiz was taken to Intermountain Medical Center by paramedics, but he died as a result of his wounds.
When the outraged mob beat him to death for reportedly hitting his pregnant fiancée, authorities only recognized one of the other defendants by full name, stating 18-year-old Xandre Sky Hill was also recorded on film beating Ortiz with a pole. Despite admitting to authorities that he tackled and attacked Ortiz, Hill stated that another accused used a pole during the assault.
Martinez and Hill were both arrested on murder charges and were being detained in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail. In a police report, three more suspects were recognized using just their initials. The accused were all in their teens and early twenties. According to a member of the group, they requested one of the others, a woman, to halt the beating, but she declined.
An accused linked to Ortiz told cops he assaulted his fiancée and that his family was afraid to report the event since he is on parole and his probation officer will not do anything to jail him.
Unfortunately, this is a typical concern about domestic violence: it gets unreported due to fear. The victim is skeptical that officials will do anything to assist stop it, and they are terrified of the repercussions. In reality, fewer than half — just 47% of occurrences of domestic abuse or intimate partner violence — were reported to the police, based on the National Crime Victimization Survey run by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Although it’s comprehensible to desire to give an abuser a taste of their own medicine, if you or someone you know is a suspected victim of domestic violence, there are many resources for help, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233 or visit www.thehotline.org) and Local Domestic Violence Hotlines or Organizations, such as the YMCA, YWCA, Battered Women’s Shelter, Women Helping Women, Legal Aid Society, or local church. Victims might also contact a local police officer or attorney. Whatever the domestic abuse victim chooses, though, it’s vital to get professional treatment straight away.
