Cecilio 'Roman' Ortiz, 52, led congregation at The Lord’s Vineyard Fellowship and was owner of barber shop

The Rev. Cecilio “Roman” Ortiz of Pueblo is remembered by those who knew him as someone who was always willing to help others and offer words of encouragement.

“I know (when) I was walking some place and everything and he’d blow the horn,” said Calvin Propst Sr., a congregant at The Lord’s Vineyard Fellowship on East Evans Drive, where Ortiz was a pastor. “Brother Calvin,’ he’d say… ‘Do you need a ride?'”

Propst, originally from Detroit, and Ortiz became friends because Ortiz adopted three of Propst's grandchildren.

“When I came out here, my other son told me about it; then I met him,” Propst said. “What a glorious and blessed day it was to know that this is the man that took my grandchildren and raised him up before they would be lost in society and everything else.”

Police say Ortiz died around 3:45 a.m. Sunday in a disturbance with his son, Malachi Ortiz, 23, who police arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He was taken to the Pueblo County jail.

Just hours after Ortiz, 52, was shot at his residence on the 1900 block of Sherwood Lane — where he died despite rescue attempts by first-responders and was pronounced dead by the coroner’s office — the congregation gathered at The Lord’s Vineyard Fellowship for an improvised service.

“We gave them a brief statement as to what happened last night,” said congregant Randy Montoya. “We all came together in prayer and we just keep speaking life into the situation.”

Montoya said he first heard the news around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. After spending most of the morning at Ortiz’s residence, Montoya and three others spoke before the congregation, telling them to not put on an “attitude of mourning.”

“When you mourn, you’re accepting the death of someone or something,” Montoya said. “We just stress as a congregation to expect, have that attitude of expectation that he’s going to rise again.

“We know he’s going to be with Christ,” Montoya continued. “He’s going to rise with Christ. We know that, but here in this world we keep speaking for him to walk.”

In addition to leading The Lord’s Vineyard Fellowship, Ortiz was also owner of Roman’s Barber & Salon on Northern Avenue. Friends and family visited the front door of his business Sunday, bringing flower bouquets, balloons, candles and handmade signs.

His slaying is the eighth homicide reported in Pueblo County this year. Two others also involved family violence.

On May 7, James Morrow, 64, died in a case also involving a father and son. Nathaniel Morrow, 34, was arrested after shooting his father in a struggle over a gun. He shot James Morrow again as his mother ran from the Lake Avenue home, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Pueblo Chieftain.

On June 10, Robert Goodwin, 68, was allegedly shot by his stepson, Sean Michael Pennefather, 36, because Pennefather was angry the man would not leave the Pueblo West home of Pennefather's mother, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Chieftain.

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Twitter: @ChieftainNews