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By: Nicole Mooradian | May 13, 2014 | Edit This
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Victims family pleads for murder suspects arrest [UPDATED]
A $10,000 reward is available for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Erick Ortega, who is suspected
of fatally shooting a man in North Redondo Beach in June 2013, the Redondo Beach Police Department and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday morning in a joint news conference.
Police believe Ortega, 28, shot and killed Gardena resident Bobby Darren Reynolds, 38, in front of a home near the
corner of Ralston and Lilienthal lanes at about 8 p.m. June 21, 2013.
Reynolds was sitting in front of his house waiting for his wife and daughter to return home with pizza when he was
shot multiple times from behind, RBPD Chief Joe Leonardi told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Bobby Reynolds wife, Monica, as well as other members of his family urged the public to come forward with any
information about Ortegas whereabouts.
My son got to hear his dad being shot to death in the house, Monica Reynolds said after the news conference. He
was in the house, luckily he wasnt outside. It makes me wonder, what if my son was shot? Would everyone be sitting
there quiet still if my son was shot? I want someone to speak up.
According to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Gravis, the identity of tipsters can remain confidential. He
encouraged them to call the FBIs Los Angeles field office at 310-477-6565.
Nevertheless, tipsters should not try to apprehend Ortega themselves, officials at the news conference cautioned.
Instead, people with information on the suspect should contact authorities.
We do believe Erick Ortega is armed and dangerous, RBPD Sgt. Shawn Freeman said.
A federal warrant for Ortegas arrest on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued Feb. 20, authorities
said. A state warrant was issued July 25, 2013.
Ortega was officially charged with murder by the Los Angeles County Superior Court last year.
Its an equal amount of the broken hearts and broken teams, Leonardi said, referring to the families of both the
suspect and the victim. Were asking someone to break the silence and tell us where Erick Julian Ortega is and, in
doing that, mend the hearts of people on both sides of this tragedy.
Officials said they believe members of Ortegas family, including his mother and grandparents, may know where he
his; however, they declined to comment further on the issue.
He has a child. For someone to have a child and to take another life of a person who has children is not OK. It makes
no sense, Monica Reynolds told reporters after the news conference. I dont understand how any familyif they
know where hes athow can they protect him. He took a life including his own. His life is over. His life is over
now.
If youre hiding, your life is done, so turn yourself in. Its the right thing to do; its the humane thing to do.
Search for Ortega
Ortega has long been a named suspect in connection with the shooting of Reynolds. Within 24 hours of the shooting,
police distributed his photo and description to local media in hopes that a member of the public would come forward
with some clue as to his whereabouts.
Ortega was the registered owner of a Chrysler 300 sedan that may have been used as a getaway vehicle. Witnesses
saw a sedan matching the description of Ortegas vehicle fleeing the scene, and Ortegas vehicle was found several
blocks away, on Spreckles Lane near Inglewood Avenue.
A tow truck driver told a reporter at the scene that he had been dispatched to the area to pick up the Chrysler sedan,
but when he arrived, the vehicle was surrounded by police tape.
The tow truck driver said that he was to pick up the sedan and tow it to an address in Lomita where a woman named
Shelby Johnston would meet him.
Officers later served a search warrant at the Lomita address, which police told reporters was Ortegas home.
Police also arrested Eduardo Antonio Losa, 42, and Shelby Ann Johnston, 29, of Lomita on suspicion of murder and
on suspicion of accessory to murder, respectively, shortly after the shooting. The suspects, who were in a domestic
relationship, were released 48 hours later without being charged with a crime.
Johnstons mother has insisted that both Losa and her daughter are innocent.
Ortega is described as a 5-foot 6-inch, 160-pound Hispanic man with brown hair and brown eyes. He has a marijuana
leaf on his right arm; a tattoo with the letters HA covering his head; the words padre pardon me, Redondo Beach
and father forgive on his chest with a cross; a clown on his left shoulder; a naked woman on his right shoulder; the
words bitch please on his neck; and the words Redondo how do you want it on his abdomen, in addition to tattoos
on his neck, left arm and under his left arm.
Freeman said that Ortega may have since grown out his hair, covering the distinctive tattoos on his head.
Investigators believe that Ortega is a member of the North Side Redondo gang, also known as RB-13 or NSR-13,
which was active primarily in the 1980s. Police allege that Losa is also a member of the gang.
In addition to the South Bay, Ortega may have traveled Oklahoma or Arkansas, where other alleged NSR-13 gang
members reside, Freeman said. His criminal history includes narcotics offenses and violent crimes.
Ortega also goes by the names Bones, Bonz and Bonez, according to the Wanted flier produced by the FBI.