 Edwin Ortiz (Photo: CBS TV Chicago)
Morales, Taylor, and Pagan got up and started to run. The gunman fired several shots. Morales was killed. Taylor was struck in his midsection, but survived. Pagan was not hit.
At the hospital, Taylor, who was 5 feet 6 inches tall, described the gunman as being 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with black hair, and a light complexion.
Pagan told police the gunman was wearing a hoodie and blue pants. He said the gunman was 18 to 20 years old, was 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall, and had a light complexion.
Several months later, in September or October 1988, Taylor was released from the hospital. Police came to his home with 15 photo books to see if he could identify anyone. Taylor looked through some of them and did not make any identification.
In July 1989, police visited Taylor again, this time with a photographic lineup containing a photo of 19-year-old Pedro Aponte. Aponte had become a suspect because he was an associate of a gang member known as “Chino.” In addition, Chino and Aponte were by then in custody charged with a separate murder. Taylor identified Aponte as the gunman. At the time of the shooting, Aponte was 18 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall with black hair and a light complexion, which resembled the descriptions given by Taylor and Pagan.
On September 6, 1989, police gang crimes specialist, Reynaldo Guevara, drove to Taylor’s house and showed him a set of photos that included a photo of Edwin Ortiz, who had just turned 15 at the time of the shooting. Guevara would later say that Taylor now identified Ortiz as the gunman. According to the report filed regarding the identification, Ortiz’s photo was included in the lineup because he had been known to associate with someone who was nicknamed “Chino.”
One day later, two other detectives, Ralph Vucko and Kriston Kato, wrote a report claiming that on July 27, 1989 – six weeks earlier – Aponte had been brought to the police station. At that time, according to the report, Taylor and Pagan, had viewed live lineups and did not identify Aponte.
On September 29, Ortiz was brought to the police station for a live lineup. Pagan and Taylor both identified Ortiz as the gunman. Ortiz was then arrested.
Ultimately, Ortiz went to trial in Cook County Circuit Court on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, armed violence, and aggravated battery. He chose to have the case decided by a judge instead of a jury.
There was no physical or forensic evidence connecting Ortiz to the crime. Taylor and Pagan testified and identified him as the gunman.
Detective Vucko testified that Taylor’s identification of Aponte had only been tentative, even though the report of the lineup said that “Marvin Taylor identified Pedro Aponte as the offender wanted for this offense.” There was no reference in any report that the identification was tentative.
Guevara, contrary to his earlier report, testified that he took photographs to Taylor from a book of photos of juvenile members of the Latin Disciples street gang. Ortiz, who was associated with the Disciples, was in the book. Guevara said that he brought the book not because Ortiz was connected to someone known as “Chino,” but because the crime was committed in territory controlled by the Disciples. He did not explain why he did so after Taylor and Pagan had already identified Aponte as the gunman.
The defense called Ortiz’s sister, Maria Sanchez, who testified that at the time of the crime, Ortiz was about 5 feet 1 inch or 5 feet 2 inches tall, well short of the descriptions given by Taylor and Pagan after the shooting. Frank Tobin, who worked at the Juvenile Detention Center school, which Ortiz attended while in custody, testified that Ortiz was known as “Pee Wee” because he was so physically small. Aponte testified for the defense as well and confirmed that Ortiz was known as “Pee Wee,” and was about 5 feet tall at the time of the shooting.
On May 3, 1993, Judge William Hibbler convicted Ortiz of all charges. Judge Hibbler sentenced Ortiz to 40 years in prison.
In September 1994, the First District Illinois Appellate Court upheld his conviction and sentence.
Several years later, evidence of misconduct by Guevara and other police officers began to gain traction. In February 2004, Juan Johnson, whose 30-year prison sentence for a murder conviction had been vacated in 2002, was acquitted at a retrial. Evidence showed that the original three eyewitnesses who identified Johnson all recanted their testimony and said they had been coerced to falsely identify Johnson.
In 2010, Ortiz was released on parole.
In October 2011, Jacques Rivera was exonerated of a murder based on evidence that Guevara and other officers buried exculpatory evidence and pressured a witness to falsely identify him as the gunman.
The exonerations began piling up. On August 9, 2022, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) agreed to vacate and then dismissed eight homicide convictions related to Guevara’s misconduct. By the end of that year, more than 30 men and women whose convictions were based on misconduct by Guevara and other detectives working with him had their cases vacated and dismissed.
On February 24, 2024, attorneys Anand Swaminathan, of the law firm of Loevy & Loevy, and Joshua Tepfer and Fadya Salem of The Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School filed a petition for relief from judgment on behalf of Ortiz. The petition cited more than 40 wrongful convictions due to Guevara’s misconduct.
Guevara retired in 2005 and was never disciplined or charged with any wrongdoing. When questioned under oath about his conduct, he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Ortiz’s petition said, “After decades of advocacy and litigation in Illinois Courts, there is no longer a viable dispute: Former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara was a corrupt police officer who routinely violated citizens constitutional rights when conducting homicide investigations. Courts and juries alike have concluded that during his lengthy career Guevara engaged in a range of abhorrent and unconstitutional misconduct, including manipulating, threatening, and psychologically and physically coercing witnesses and accused suspects; perjury; and the outright fabrication of statements, police reports, and other evidence.”
The petition said that in May 2022, Pagan had given a sworn statement that he kept telling Guevara that he could not identify the gunman because it was dark and the gunman was wearing a hood and a face covering. Pagan said Guevara, who he identified not by name, but as the “Puerto Rican detective,” pointed to Ortiz “and told me I should pick him.” Pagan said he insisted he had not seen the gunman’s face, and Guevara offered him money to identify Ortiz. “I eventually gave in to his demands and identified Edwin Ortiz as the shooter,” Pagan said. “Afterwards, the Puerto Rican detective gave me money.”
Whether Taylor was similarly coerced remained unknown. “Based on investigative efforts, it appears Marvin Taylor is deceased,” the petition said.
The petition was assigned to the State’s Attorney’s post-conviction unit. On July 25, 2024, the prosecution dismissed the case.
– Maurice Possley
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