Completion of jury selection in trial of brothers accused of robbery and murder

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA — Jury selection is expected to be completed next week in the trial of two brothers accused of killing a man during an attempted robbery outside a Perris supermarket, robbing the victim's boyfriend and beating and robbing another man nearby.

Bryan Ortega, 21, and Edgar Sanchez Ortega, 25, both of Perris, are accused of shooting 25-year-old George Torres of Moreno Valley in 2021.

The brothers are each charged with first-degree murder, robbery, attempted robbery and, under special circumstances, murder during the course of a robbery. Bryan Ortega alone is charged with assault with a firearm and possession of a weapon, which carries an aggravated sentence, as well as aggravated assault.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jason Armand began jury selection for the defendants' trial earlier this week at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The trial should conclude sometime next week.

Bryan Ortega is being held on $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, and his older brother is being held on the same amount bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

According to a trial report filed by prosecutors, the defendants allegedly committed a series of robberies shortly after 1 a.m. on November 26, 2021, when they saw a man running through a field along Wells Street in Perris and decided to take all of his belongings.

Bryan Ortega got out of his brother's four-door sedan, approached the victim and shouted, “What's up, buddy?” the report said.

The victim, identified in court documents only as “MF,” later told sheriff's investigators that he did not know the person but immediately froze in fear when the man approached him, pulled the slide of a 9mm handgun and “pressed the barrel against the side of his head,” court documents say.

“Bryan said, 'Take off all your clothes,'” the complaint states. “MF hesitated … and when he did, Bryan struck him in the side of the head with the pistol and said, 'Take off your clothes. I mean it. I'm going to kill you.' MF complied. After removing his clothes, Bryan struck him again with the pistol and the victim fell to his knees.”

Ortega grabbed the man's clothing and his cellphone, which he also used as a wallet, and jumped back into his brother's car. Then the two sped off, prosecutors allege. MF was able to walk to a nearby Circle K and ask for help from the clerk, who called deputies.

Just 20 minutes later, the defendants drove to a morning/afternoon appointment at 4040 Perris Blvd. and began inhaling drugs or vapors via balloons while sitting in Edgar Ortega's vehicle, according to the indictment. The men saw Torres pull into the parking lot in his Honda sedan and decided to rob him and his male friend, identified only as “JN,” court records state.

After JN got out of the passenger side of the Honda and went into the supermarket to buy cigarettes, Edgar Ortega backed his sedan into the parking space right next to the victim's car, the summary states.

When JN returned and got back into the Honda, Bryan Ortega got out of his brother's vehicle, pulled out his 9mm pistol and told JN and Torres, who was driving, “Give me everything you have,” the brief states.

JN immediately complied and handed over his cigarettes and cash, but Torres refused, so Ortega ordered the victim to take off his sunglasses and hand them over to him. The young man refused, however, and instead grabbed a gun he had hidden in the Honda and shot Ortega, who “then began firing multiple shots at the car,” according to the report.

Torres was struck by multiple bullets and died at the scene. JN was not injured. The defendants fled while witnesses called 911, according to the indictment.

Homicide detectives reviewed surveillance camera footage outside the store that morning and quickly identified the brothers as the suspected attackers. They also linked them to the assault and robbery at MF that led to the men's safe arrest at a Santa Ana hotel that same day.

According to prosecutors, Edgar Ortega has been involved in at least three alleged assaults on fellow inmates since his incarceration. However, these incidents did not result in charges. Neither he nor his younger brother have previously been convicted of a crime in Riverside County.

Copyright 2024, City News Service, Inc.