Peñasco woman sentenced to 24 years in homicide case

A 46-year-old Peñasco woman was sentenced to 24 years with the New Mexico Department of Corrections on Thursday (Jan. 19), plus two additional years of parole, after pleading guilty to shooting and killing her boyfriend in 2021.

Lori Ortega pleaded guilty to a total of four charges in October: second-degree murder and three fourth-degree felonies, including two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of tampering with evidence.

Ortega initially faced a maximum of 28.5 years in the New Mexico Department of Corrections, but 8th Judicial District Judge Jeffery Shannon determined that counts four and five would run concurrently, reducing Ortega’s sentence to 24 years. Ortega is required to fulfill 85 percent of the first 22.5 years of her sentence.

On Aug. 11, 2021, an intoxicated Ortega shot her boyfriend Gregario Lopez three times, killing him, according to court records. Eighth Judicial District Attorney Lucas Helper demanded the court give Ortega the full sentence, noting that “Gregorio Lopez was gunned down in cold blood.” According to Helper, Lopez and Ortega had a fight and planned on separating. When Lopez came to retrieve his belongings, she shot him with a revolver. She fired five rounds, hitting him three times

and “narrowly missing two other occupants” in the vehicle Lopez was in.

According to testimonials provided by family members of both parties at the hearing, Ortega had exhibited violent tendencies in the past and had a history of traumatic familial relationships. Parties present at the hearing touched on the absence of psychiatric assistance Ortega received regarding potential mental trauma caused by childhood experiences.

Family members of the victim and the defendant were welcome to give testimonials during the hearing. Lopez’s mother, Susana Lopez, was the first to take the stand and told the court about five other instances in which Ortega had exhibited abusive behavior toward Gregorio, including one in which Ortega allegedly stabbed Gregorio’s hand. On another occasion provided by Susana, Ortega verbally harassed and threatened her.

Susana mentioned Genesis Lopez, Gregorio’s daughter, who was inevitably affected by the domestic events both before and after the murder. According to Susana, Genesis, who was 5 years old when her father died, told her grandpa that she “hated” Ortega. Susana then begged the question, “What 5-year-old should use the word ‘hate’ in conversation and know what the word means?”

“And lastly, Your Honor, let’s not forget the life sentence that Genesis got,” Margie Frescas, Gregorio’s aunt, said. “She doesn’t have her dad anymore. All she’s got is this. All she’s got is this, Your Honor. Pictures. Eventually her memory will fade.”

Family members from Ortega’s side noted that the side of Lori that was presented that day in court was not the one they knew. Diana Burg, Ortega’s sister, reminisced on her talent for music, noting her artistic success throughout New Mexico. While addressing the court, Clorinda Gonzales, who was a family friend of Ortega, asked, “Why couldn’t we have gotten help for her before?”

Summer Alston, a licensed social worker and investigator in New Mexico who primarily works for the Public Defender’s Office and the author of the mitigation report for Ortega’s case, also addressed the court.

“I just wanted to say a couple of things that stood out to me,” Alston said under oath. “I interviewed Lori on four occasions, talked to family, talked to neighbors, and what struck me the most was what Ms. Clorinda Gonzales said, is ‘why did she never get help?’” Even when cops were involved, no one called the Children, Youth & Families Department. “There was no intervention. So, she grew up in a very violent, crazy, traumatizing household and then at the age of 8, her siblings left, and she was there alone.”

She continued to mention the possibility that Ortega had depression and PTSD as well as sub-chronic substance abuse, all of which went untreated.

“The substance abuse makes perfect sense when you’re selfmedicating from the trauma,” Alston continued. “Going from one abusive relationship to the next also makes perfect sense because [if] there’s no intervention, there’s no way to break that cycle. From my standpoint, from a trauma-informed standpoint, Lori was doing what was modeled for her. All she knew were violent relationships, and all she knew was drinking to cope. If you take alcohol out of the equation, she becomes the intelligent, level-headed joy to be around that everyone talks about.”

When asked if alcohol was involved on the day of Gregorio’s death, Alston said, “It absolutely was.”

“This is something that I deal with every day of my life,” Ortega said as she addressed the court. “I wasn’t even aware that he had been hit, I was unaware that he had been at the hospital, I was unaware that he had even passed away. [When] the police arrived at my house, I still did not know anything. I did not know anything [when] I was taken to Taos County Detention Center. When they finally put me in the turtle suit, I asked them why they were going to do that. They said it was because of my charges. I asked them what my charges were, and they said, ‘first-degree murder,’ and I burst into tears.”