On the evening of August 24, 2018, the life of 42-year-old Jose Ortiz was tragically cut short. Worcester police officers were dispatched to 15 Everard Street around 7:40 p.m. following a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered Mr. Ortiz on the third floor of the building, suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to his head. The initial investigation into the suspicious death quickly turned into a homicide case as detectives began to piece together the events that led to the
violent encounter.
The investigation into the death of Jose Ortiz led authorities to identify a suspect in the fatal shooting. Detectives from the Worcester Police Department determined that a man named Kennie Mota-Cruz had gone to the Everard Street address and shot Ortiz. The meticulous work of the police department was crucial in building a case against the individual responsible for the killing. The community was left seeking answers as the legal process began to unfold, hoping for some measure of closure for the family of Mr. Ortiz.
Following a four-day trial, a Worcester Superior Court jury found Kennie Mota-Cruz, who was 29 at the time of the verdict, guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the 2018 killing of Jose Ortiz. In February 2023, Mota-Cruz was sentenced to life in prison for his crime. He will be eligible to seek parole after serving 25 years of his sentence. The verdict and sentencing brought a formal conclusion to the case, holding the perpetrator accountable for his actions on that tragic day in August.
