One Year Later: The life of transgender victim Janelle Ortiz

Sister to late Humberto "Janelle" Ortiz, Rose Ortiz, clears her eye as she sits next to a collage of photos featuring Janelle, Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2019. Sister to late Humberto "Janelle" Ortiz, Rose Ortiz, clears her eye as she sits next to a collage of photos featuring Janelle, Tuesday, Sep. 10, 2019. Photo: Danny Zaragoza, Laredo Morning Times Photo: Danny Zaragoza, Laredo Morning Times Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close One Year Later: The life of transgender victim Janelle Ortiz 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Editors Note: One year later, the Laredo Morning Times is taking a look at the fallout from the serial killings that shook the Gateway City to its core last September. LMT reporters talked to the families affected the most after the series of murders and a resulting investigation ended with the arrest of Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz. One year later, the aftershock from the crimes can still be felt in Laredo.

Janelle Ortiz, a transgender woman, was born Humberto Ortiz and was raised in south Laredo. She also went by her nickname Nikki Enriquez on Facebook. Her mother left in 2013, and so Janelle lived with Rose and their father Armando.

Their brothers are twins Israel and Ezequiel, both 26, and Armando, 30. Armando is in jail, Israel lives in Corpus Christi and Ezequiel lives with his mother.

"I grew up around boys," Rose said. "Nikki was different. It was like having a second mother."

While attending Cigarroa Middle School, Janelle started to embrace her sexuality and grew out her hair. She then dropped out and started making her own clothing and makeup.

In a video Rose saved of Janelle, she is energetically talking about some drama when a boy she was seeing found out she was with another person. Her hoop earrings dangled, and her long hair, which was pulled back, was vibrant in the sun.

Rose said initially her dad was uncomfortable with Janelle's lifestyle but then welcomed her into open arms.

"Even though it was hard to accept him for who he was, he got the hang of it, like, 'You know what, he is my son, and I accept him for who he is,'" she said. "Everyone in the family accepted him, because the way his personality was, he didn't care, you know?"

Over the years, the two started seeing each other less, and Janelle fell into addiction. Yet Rose would try and check on her sometimes to see how she was doing.

"Addiction — it's the devil," Rose said. "(Janelle) told my brother, 'I can't with this life anymore.'"

In September 2018, the community had heightened awareness and fear when Laredo Police found three women slain in the same rural area near U.S. 83.

Janelle knew the third victim, Melissa Ramirez, who was 29 and a mother of two. Janelle and Ramirez were involved in prostitution, and one time Janelle asked her dad to give Ramirez a ride back home.

"I was in shock, and then I was like, 'Oh my God!' I couldn't believe it," Rose said. "Then I started noticing more deaths like Claudine's. I was in shock because it happened here in Laredo."

On Sept. 16, Rose received a message from a second cousin asking if she had seen Janelle, and so she started panicking.

"People everywhere know him, honestly," she said. "And they were like, 'No, it's because we already checked up with (my aunt) and she said no, she hadn't seen him.' So she didn't get any message asking for him, so I was the first one to ask."

They then called a nearby hospital, which did not have anyone by that name.

"I didn't want to have this doubt," she said. "I know he fights, because he's a fighter."

Her father called the Webb County Jail, which did not have Janelle either. Her aunt, Patricia, her father and Ezequiel later went to the morgue to identify Janelle because they described one of her tattoos over the phone.

In the meantime, her mother called her telling her it was Janelle. And then her grandmother called, as well.

"I got another call from my grandmother. She just told me, 'It is him, for real. There's no doubt it is him,'" she said. "So I hung up the phone because I started drowning in tears. I didn't want anyone to touch me or anything."

Janelle was 28 when she was murdered.

Mass media descended on the Gateway City, with many outlets focusing on how Janelle was transgender. Over nearly a year, Rose and her father were the only ones to attend the court sessions to determine Juan David Ortiz's fate.

The 10-year Border Patrol agent towers over many at 6-foot-1, and on April 25, he appeared in court. It was the first time Rose and her father saw him in person.

"He didn't know what his intentions were, what he was capable of doing," she said. "He didn't do anything, my dad just didn't want to face him. After the court ended, my dad cried because it was Humberto's birthday."

Rose said if her sister were here right now, Janelle would tease her and touch her belly, since Rose was pregnant.

She and her father have never missed a court meeting since. With Alaniz vying for the death penalty, Rose said she will leave the outcome in "God's hands."

"My dad and I are getting through this, little by little," she said. "It's like the system makes it seem like he killed mosquitoes, but in reality he ended four humans' lives. I just want to leave court that day relieved."