Tim Archuleta

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

U.S. Customs and Border Protection intel supervisor Juan David Ortiz was no stranger to Erika Peña.

Ortiz had picked up Peña in his white Dodge truck, offering to pay her $500 for sex and drove them to his house on Sept. 14.

The 26-year-old knew he was a federal law enforcement officer, but she quickly sensed his anger when she asked about her murdered friend.

"When they were at the house, she started a conversation," said Marcela Rodriguez, Peña's aunt. "'Did you know that Melissa (Ramirez) was killed?'"

“His attitude started to change. She told me that he stood in back of her and she felt a rush run from her feet to her head. She started to get sick. She told him I need to go outside to vomit," Rodriguez added.

After Ortiz cleaned up the mess, Peña persuaded him to get back in his pickup with her to go "for a cruise." They stopped near a gas station and he put a gun to her chest, Rodriguez said.

But Peña broke free from his grasp and ran off where she found a state trooper.

"She was screaming for help, saying a man was trying to kill her," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez shared details Wednesday of her niece's harrowing encounter with Ortiz, who is accused of killing four women, to provide a glimpse into Peña's ongoing emotional trauma.

The ordeal has left her niece broken, unable to even take a shower and frightened for her safety.

It's important, Rodriguez said, for the public to understand that Peña is a victim, too.

Authorities at a press conference earlier this week said Peña's escape from Ortiz broke the serial murder case open. She was able to lead police to Ortiz's house. After the border patrol agent's arrest and alleged confession to a pair of murders, Ortiz told investigators about two other victims.

Authorities say Ortiz in total has confessed to killing Melissa Ramirez, 29; Claudine Ann Luera, 42; Guiselda Alicia Cantu, 35, and Nikki Enriquez, 28, a transgender woman.

More:Transgender woman killed by border agent tragically misidentified by police, activists say

All died between Sept. 3 and Sept. 15, their bodies found within miles of one another outside the Laredo city limits.

"She doesn’t want people to see her as a hero," Rodriguez said. "We want the (community) to see her as another victim who escaped. That she is alive ... It’s sad to see her now. The way she is. She is pretty traumatized."

Rodriguez has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for Peña's medical care and legal expenses. As of Wednesday, more than $4,200 of a $20,000 goal had been raised.

Rodriguez is planning later Wednesday afternoon to pick up her niece and take her to a local health clinic to see a doctor. She says Peña, a mother to a 5-year-old daughter, needs psychological care.

"I want the community to know that she really needs the help," Rodriguez said. "All her family is devastated to see how she is doing now. She thinks this guy is coming for her. We told her he is not going to come."

Ortiz remained jailed and his bail is set at $2.5 million.

The aunt said that Peña told her that she and the four women weren't strangers to Ortiz.

"They all knew this guy and they knew he was a Border Patrol (agent)," she said. "He would hire them."

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