Three people, ages 18, 19 and 21, have been charged with beating a Magna man to death — allegedly in response to an earlier domestic violence incident.
Xandre Skye Daniel Hill, 18, of Sandy; Easton Esparsa, 19, of South Jordan; and Osyeanna Maria Martinez, 21, of Salt Lake City, were each charged in 3rd District Court with homicide by assault, a third-degree felony, in the death of Fred Valdamar Ortiz, 41.
Easton told police that on June 13, he discovered that his pregnant aunt — who had a black eye — had allegedly been beaten by Ortiz.
On June 14, Ortiz came by the aunt’s house on a scooter and yelled for her to come outside. Esparsa, Martinez and a teenager — a minor — got in a car and followed him. When Ortiz stopped at a nearby gas station, his pursuers confronted him. Ortiz ran off, chased by the others.
They caught up to him near 3600 South and 8000 West and began beating him. When Unified Police officers arrived, Ortiz was on the ground and not breathing. Attempts were made to revive him, but he died after being taken to Intermountain Medical Center.
According to the charges, surveillance video from a nearby business shows Martinez, Esparza and Hill chasing after Ortiz. Martinez is seen throwing two wooden boards at Ortiz, and punching and kicking him. Esparsa is seen beating Ortiz with a pole.
Investigators determined that, while there were others in the group that chased Ortiz, only Esparza, Hill and Esparsa assaulted him.
According to the state medical examiner, Ortiz died of a heart attack “following physical assault.” The autopsy also showed that Ortiz suffered “acute methamphetamine intoxication and hypertensive cardiovascular disease,” the charges state, and his “manner of death” was “homicide.”
Hill, Esparsa and Martinez were all booked into the Salt Lake County jail and later released on bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 7.