OAKLAND — In a surprising reversal, Alameda County prosecutors have dismissed a murder case against a 39-year-old man, now conceding they can’t prove charges that kept the defendant behind bars for five months.
Juan Gonzalez-Ortega, 39, was charged last August with murdering Delicia Elizabeth Ojeda over perceived infidelity in their romantic relationship. The case made it past a December 2023 preliminary hearing, where a judge noted there were some indications Ojeda had died of suicide, not homicide, but allowed the case to proceed anyway.
But prosecutors dismissed the case in January due to “lack of evidence,” according to court records. Gonzalez-Ortega was then released from jail. The dismissal has not been previously reported.
In an email to this newspaper, attorney Alanna Coopersmith, who represented Gonzalez-Ortega, said there was ample evidence of the suicide, including a video recorded days earlier in which Ojeda talked about her plans.
The allegations against Gonzalez-Ortega were serious. Surveillance footage showed him and Ojeda entering a North Oakland hotel room together on Aug. 1, 2023. Later that afternoon, Gonzalez-Ortega was seen exiting, alone, covered in blood. That happened after a 911 caller reported hearing a gunshot come from inside the room, authorities said.
But the case had apparent problems from the start
Police responded to the hotel room one day after the call and discovered Ojeda’s body inside. The bullet wound was below her chin, and a forensic pathologist told police that it could have been from homicide or suicide.
At Gonzalez-Ortega’s preliminary hearing, police testified that Gonzalez-Ortega had accused Ojeda of seeing him and another man simultaneously and pointed to that conflict as a potential motive.Because the two were alone in the hotel room at the time of the shooting, there were no eyewitnesses. The only person who came close was a guest at the hotel, who testified he heard intense screaming coming from the room.
“It was the type of screaming that you don’t want to hear,” the man testified at the December hearing. Coopersmith, said that the screams were actually Gonzalez-Ortega’s desperate pleas to Ojeda after the shooting. She argued at the hearing that the gun was placed “flush” against Ojeda’s chin and that there was no motive for murder.
Judge Mark McCannon agreed with prosecutors there was enough to hold Gonzalez-Ortega to answer, but the legal standard for preliminary hearings is far below what jurors are tasked with to find guilt at trial.
Additional resource: If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Reach the lifeline at 988 or see the SuicidePreventionLifeline.org
