Marco Ortiz pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2019 fatal stabbing of his son-in-law (NY Criminal Justice Services)
Feb. 22, 2022 By Allie Griffin
A Briarwood man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally stabbing his son-in-law in January 2019.
Marco Ortiz, 48, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first-degree Tuesday morning as a Queens jury was in the process of deliberations.
“As jurors decided his fate, the defendant opted to plead guilty to manslaughter,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Ortiz admitted that he stabbed his daughter’s husband Travis Ford, 31, to death in the Briarwood home they all shared at 8 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2019.
The stabbing took place while the defendant’s daughter was in hospital—following the birth of the couple’s second child.
Ford’s two-year-old daughter was inside the Briarwood home at the time of the stabbing.
Ortiz and Ford were reportedly arguing, before Ortiz grew enraged and pulled out a knife. He slashed his son-in-law in the face and stabbed him once in the stomach, according to the trial testimony.
Ford was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. He died in the same hospital where his wife was recovering from giving birth.
Travis Ford with his wife and their daughter (GoFundMe)
“A family dispute should never end in bloodshed, but in this instance, an argument between the two men escalated to violence and a tragic death,” Katz said in a statement.
Ortiz is scheduled to return to court on March 8 for his sentencing. Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who oversaw the trial, plans to sentence Ortiz to 19 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision, according to Katz.
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