Former Hillsboro cook sentenced to 40 years for breaking baby’s bones Norma Garcia sobbed at the thought that the man who abused her grandson and left him with multiple broken bones could use his guile to escape punishment. “He has a way of being very charming and cocky, of getting his way with a lot of people,” Garcia testified of Juan Francisco Medina Ortiz during his trial for causing 17 fractures in then 2½-month-old son Maximo’s bones. “He tried to make us believe that he was a good person.” A McLennan County jury found Ortiz, 31, guilty of the injuries inflicted upon Maximo in August 2012, sentencing him to 40 years for felony injury to a child, a first-degree felony; and 15 years each on two counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault. The sentences are to run concurrently. Ortiz will be eligible for parole after serving half of the 40-year sentence. He was also ordered to pay a total of $100,000 in fines. Prosecutors Landon Ramsay and Hilary LaBorde did not push for the maximum sentence of life in prison for the injury to a child charge. But Ramsay told the jury in closing arguments of the punishment phase that baby Max “deserved more than the minimum.” Ramsay declined comment after the case, but a statement released by the McLennan County District Attorney’s office attributed the following to LaBorde: “We are proud to be part of a team of professionals who sought justice for this child abuse survivor. Doctors, investigators, and average citizens advocated for this infant, and as a team we achieved the right result. Juan Ortiz will now stay behind bars where he belongs.” Ortiz’s attorney, Patrick Megaro of Orlando, Florida, said he filed a notice of intent to appeal the verdict. The jury deliberated for nine hours and 40 minutes over Thursday and Friday before convicting Ortiz on all three counts, while the sentence was determined in just 50 minutes. “This is a case based on a lot of emotion, a lot of sympathy, and it’s extremely hard to not feel emotion or sympathy in an abuse of a child case,” Megaro said. “I respect the jury’s verdict. I disagree with it, but I am bound to accept it and respect it.” Maximo was taken to a hospital in August 2012 to be treated for a broken arm, but further X-rays showed 16 other fractures at various stages of healing in his shoulder, legs, arms, feet, ribs and clavicle. Dr. Erica Ward, a pediatrician at McLane Children’s Scott & White Hospital in Temple, testified earlier in the week that the injuries were consistent with forceful “yanking, twisting, pulling motions,” and could not have been accidental. Physical therapy Garcia testified that Maximo, now 2½ years old, began to show signs of developmental delays as early as 6 months old, experiencing limited range of motion in his limbs because of his injuries. He ended physical therapy three months ago and is now meeting age-level developmental milestones, she told the jury. Garcia shares custody of Maximo with his mother. She said her grandson still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, something she believes is connected to the abuse. “I hold Francisco responsible for all that has happened to my grandson,” Garcia said, crying as she addressed the jury. Ortiz’s ex-wife Alma Esperanza testified on his behalf during the punishment phase, telling jurors through an interpreter that she never witnessed Ortiz abuse or discipline their two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old son. “He is a very good, excellent father,” Esperanza said.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 06:46:35 +0000
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