Teen Ismael Ortiz pleads innocent in adult court

EPHRATA - Ismael Ortiz Jr., 16, was reportedly playing a game of Russian Roulette with a .22-caliber gun before it accidentally went off and killed his close friend Leoncio Garcia, 18, on Nov. 10.

A witness told Moses Lake Police Garcia's death was accidental, according to documents filed in Grant County Superior Court. Investigators wrote Ortiz was reportedly pointing the pistol at Garcia's chest, when he allegedly pulled the trigger, firing the weapon.

"(The witness) advised (Ortiz) was playing around with it, and described the weapon as small, looked like a toy, and had a cylinder that Ismael was spinning," Moses Lake Police wrote in their investigative report. "The gun went off and everyone was surprised."

The bullet entered Garcia's chest, piercing his aorta artery and liver before becoming embedded in his spine, according to Spokane County forensic pathologist Sally Aiken's report.

Ortiz and Garcia were reportedly associates of the Poco Locos gang, court documents stated. But the shooting was not gang related, Moses Lake Police Capt. Jim Jenkins told the Herald in an earlier interview.

"(The witness) advised it had been an accident and than Leon (Garcia) and the shooter (Ortiz) were like brothers, in fact Leon had been living with him for about four months," court documents stated.

Ortiz, of Moses Lake, pleaded innocent Monday in Grant County Superior Court to charges of manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm. State law requires a juvenile of his age be charged as an adult due to the serious nature of the crime.

Ortiz is being held on $75,000 bail at Grant County's juvenile detention center.

Ortiz surrendered to Moses Lake police on Sunday without problems on Nov. 10 with a .22-caliber revolver.

The shooting happened at the Moses Lake home on West Cascade Avenue where both Ortiz and Garcia reportedly lived.

Garcia, of Moses Lake, later died from internal bleeding at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane after being transferred from Samaritan Hospital.

Ortiz's pretrial conference is set for Dec. 18. Stephen Felice of Othello is his attorney.