PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – The murder trial for Bay County teenager Abel Ortiz ended in a mistrial Wednesday.
Ortiz allegedly tried to rob a drug dealer and shot 31-year-old Ed Ross several times.
“That’s when he was like, ‘I think I killed a man,’ and basically caught him a body,” Co-conspirator Jorge Hernandez said.
Bay County Sheriff Major Jimmy Stanford said that Abel Ortiz admitted to shooting Ed Ross in a robbery attempt gone wrong.
Video was played of Ortiz telling Stanford that everything happened too fast.
He said the shooting happened within minutes, after Ortiz and fellow robbers Andre Bivens and Joshua Campbell kicked in the door to Ross’ house.
Once the three entered the home, they shot Ross five times.
11 bullets from a .22 handgun, which Ortiz told Stanford he used, were found in Ross’ home.
Campbell said the three were trying to rob Ross of money and marijuana.
Ross was a drug dealer and had $5,000-$6,000 worth of marijuana in the Sunset Avenue home in Panama City Beach.
Prosecutor Mark Graham told jurors that they should not be lenient on Ortiz, even though he was only 17 at the time.
“You fully understand that the defendant was a willing and excited participant committing robbery,” Graham said. “And when he went in there, this defendant shot more than the other codependents combined.”
Ortiz did not testify, the defense had no witnesses and is claiming that there is not enough evidence to convict Ortiz.
