GUILTY WI - Austin Ramos, 5, killed in road attack, Beloit, 22 Jan 2016

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Trial date set in 5-year-old's slaying

http://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/20171214/trial_date_set_in_5-year-olds_slaying

Thousands of documents and more than 100 discs of evidence.

That's how much material is being reviewed by attorneys in the case file of two of the four suspects charged in connection with the January 2016 fatal shooting of a Beloit 5-year-old.

The vast amount of evidence and an alibi claim have slowed progress in the case, with both Sergio Ortiz, 24, and Eric Salazar-Mota, 22, appearing Wednesday in Rock County Circuit Court.

The pair, scheduled to be tried together, were given a July 9 trial date. Branch 5 Rock County Judge Michael Haakenson set an April 13 date for all final motions leading up to the anticipated trial that prosecutors say could take two weeks.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Co-defendants separated in homicide case

Rock County Judge Michael Haakenson Thursday morning approved a request to separate the case of 23-year-old Eric Salazar-Mota from 26-year-old Sergio R. Ortiz because of a Bruton issue.

A Bruton error regards the constitutional right of confrontation when a confessing defendant’s statement is used against a non-confessing defendant at their joint trial.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The man who fired the bullet that killed 5-year-old Austin Ramos Jr. two years ago was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday with no possibility of getting out early.

The sentence was the maximum allowed for first-degree reckless homicide. It also includes 20 years of extended supervision after release from prison.

Sergio R. Ortiz, 26, of Beloit, is the first of four defendants to see the end of his case.

Maximum sentence handed down in killing of 5-year-old