Le Grand woman accused of murdering her 3 children enters plea in Merced County court
A 30-year-old Le Grand woman who is accused of killing her three children earlier this year pleaded not guilty to all charges in Merced County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Wearing a yellow jailhouse jumpsuit, Patricia Ortiz appeared in-person for her arraignment Tuesday morning, saying relatively little during the brief hearing in Judge Carol Ash’s courtroom.
Ortiz appeared during the hearing with Public Defender Vincent Andrade.
She faces three charges of murder in the first degree with enhancements of lying in wait and acting with malice aforethought.
The crime, reported Jan. 12 at the apartment complex where Ortiz lived, shocked the Le Grand community. Her children, Anna Ortiz Lara, 8, Matteo Ortiz Lara, 5, and Alexa Ortiz Lara, 3, were found dead, and the defendant allegedly tried to take her own life.
Some people who know Ortiz attended Tuesday’s hearing, saying they are still in a state of disbelief. “I’m just here to pray for her and see her and let her know people are praying for her,” said Luke Daniels, who attended the same church as Ortiz and her family and attended the arraignment.
Daniels described Ortiz as very polite and warm, saying she would greet people at Planada Community Church.
“Everything seemed very normal and good,” Daniels said. “I was really, really devastated. It was hard to know someone I knew, that this happened, that the state of things leading up to that would have had to be very, very drastic.”
Daniels doesn’t know exactly what happened leading up to the children’s deaths.
He and others now hold onto the memories of the three children. “Not forgetting is important, too,” Daniels said. “Remembering to have compassion and to recognize that things like this, people get pushed to that, and to do what you can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The children’s father came home to the apartment he lived in with Ortiz and kids the night of Jan. 12 to find his three children deceased in their beds, according to neighbors in the apartment complex who heard his cries for help.
Neighbors attempted to assist the father and called the police, as well as attend to Ortiz, who neighbors said was in the bathroom with self-inflicted wounds.
First responders were able to take Ortiz to the hospital for treatment of her wounds. She was later arrested by Merced County Sheriff’s deputies and booked into the jail after a mental health evaluation.
Ortiz’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 5. She is being held at the John Latoracca Correctional Center without bail.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 10:55 AM.