Newly released audio captures Fla. man describing hatchet attack that left mom dead in kitchen
The Oct. 19 fight that authorities say left Joshua Ortiz's mother dead inside her Oviedo home was ignited over her 20-year-old son's inability to follow her house rules, he told detectives.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, January 8, 2015, 6:56 PM
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SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICEJoshua Ortiz, 20, is accused of killing his mother inside of her Oviedo, Fla. home in October. Jackie Ortiz's death has been ruled from asphyxia.
Police have released audio capturing a Florida man calmly describing how he came at his mother with a hatchet before authorities say he strangled her in her kitchen.
Joshua Ortiz, who was arrested in Maryland after fleeing the state shortly after the Oct. 19 attack, blamed their fight on him not following the house rules, which included smoking marijuana, according to audio obtained by WFTV.
"Who engaged who first?" a detective is heard asking the 20-year-old in the newly released tape.
"Me," he replied.
Ortiz said he grabbed the rusty blade after his mother, 53-year-old Jackie Ortiz, flicked a lit cigarette at him inside her Oviedo home.
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"What does she do when she sees you with the hatchet?" a detective asked him.
"She gets a knife," he replied. "And then I take a step forward and she knocks the hatchet out of my hand."
What he described next was a hand-to-hand fight between them with his mother "throwing punches" after he squeezed the knife out of her hand.
"She screams," Ortiz recalled.
SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICEJacqueline Ortiz, 53, was found dead on her kitchen floor on Oct. 19. Two of her sons discovered the body.
"OK. Like, 'I am going to attack you' scream or a scream of she's scared?" the detective asked.
"Yeah, like a shocked, scared scream," he replied.
The rest of their fight's description was redacted from the recording, WFTV reported.
Ortiz's two brothers later arrived home and discovered their mother's body lying on the kitchen floor.
"She's gone cold," Samuel Ortiz told a 911 dispatcher in a previously released recording.
"Who (expletive) did this?" he gasped. "She has bruises on her face that would indicate she was struck by something."
The 20-year-old, who has a prior arrest record that includes burglary and theft, was arrested by a Maryland state police officer on Oct. 21.
Like his mother, whose death was ruled from asphyziation, he was found having scratches and bruises deemed consistent from a fight.
He's facing charges in Seminole County, Fla. of second-degree murder and grand theft of his mother's vehicle.
