Prev Next

Deputy Sheriff

Jerry Ortiz

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — Monterey Park, CA

Felonious

End of Watch June 24, 2005

Age 35

Tour of Duty 15 yrs

The Vigil Panel 153 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 119

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Jerry Ortiz was shot and killed after knocking on a door during an investigation in the 12200 block of 223rd Street in Hawaiian Gardens.

Deputy Ortiz had gone to an apartment complex in the city of Hawaiian Gardens to question a woman about a shooting that had taken place the previous day. As he spoke to the woman at the door of the apartment, the suspect in the previous day's shooting appeared and shot him in the head. The man then fled into an apartment three doors away. Deputies found him hiding in a bathtub three hours later.

The suspect, who was on parole and had prior arrests for convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, burglary, as well as for gun and drug crimes, was charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty. In April 2007 the suspect was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Six months prior to this incident, Deputy Ortiz's brother-in-law, Corrections Officer Manuel A. Gonzalez, of the California Department of Corrections, was stabbed to death by a gang member inmate at California Institution for Men in Chino.

Deputy Ortiz had served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 15 years and was assigned to the Anti-Gang Unit.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, two sons, and mother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: neuraspine_01krbxtnmskb7gjx85kh1v54mh
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Jerry. Claim this record.

This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.

Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Ortiz gave the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the Los Angeles community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Ortiz.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

Type Other

Location Monterey Park, Los Angeles County, CA

Platform Identity lacso.losangeles.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 24, 2005

Tour of Duty 15 yrs

Age 35

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Gunfire

Weapon Gun; Unknown type

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Jerry is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 2005, 73 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 96th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Jerry was 35. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Jerry had served 15 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

June holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Fridays: 14.3%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was gun; unknown type, in 9.5% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded