Webb County Sheriff’s Office
A Border Patrol agent was charged with capital murder Wednesday after he reportedly admitted to investigators that he killed four sex workers because he thought he was performing a “civic service by killing the women,” the Associated Press reports. Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said he will seek the death penalty for Juan David Ortiz if he is found guilty for the September murders. “The scheme in this case, from Ortiz’s own words, was to clean up the streets of Laredo by targeting this community of individuals who he perceived to be disposable, that no one would miss and that he did not give value to,” Alaniz said at a Wednesday news conference, adding that Ortiz killed the women in a “cold, callous and calculating way.” Ortiz was arrested on Sept. 15 in Laredo after allegedly shooting three women and killing one by inflicting “blunt force trauma.” Ortiz was caught after one of his would-be victims was able to get away and alert a state trooper. The Border Patrol agent was also reportedly arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, and evading arrest or detention.