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SALT LAKE CITY — A Herriman man who passed a gun to his friend outside a party — after which police say the friend fired it 10 times and killed two people — will spend at least five years and up to life in prison.
Ashtyn Ernesto Ortega, 19, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony; and felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony. On Wednesday, 3rd District Judge Linda Jones sentenced him to a term of one to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge and a term of five years to life in prison for the other charge, with both sentences running concurrently.
The men who were killed — Austin Powell, 27, and Jonathan Fuentes, 21— were both young fathers, and their mothers spoke in court about how significant their losses will be for their children.
Salt Lake County deputy district attorney John Ham said shortly after midnight on April 3, 2022, a party at an Airbnb in Draper was shut down, and everyone exited the home onto Cranberry Hill Court, a street lined with cars. He said several witnessed the shooting, which happened after Powell asked others not to throw beer bottles onto the street.
Daniel Martinez, the man who police say fired the gun, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and is scheduled for a jury trial beginning on Nov. 3.
Ham said he recognizes that Ortega didn't pull the trigger, but in a neighborhood with a street full of people, it was not a good idea to pull a gun out.
"This was not going to come out well; this was going to be a very bad ending as anyone would have known," Ham said.
He said 10 rounds were fired from the gun, eight entering the windshield of the Tesla that Powell was in, and one went behind the Tesla and hit Fuentes.
Nicole Powell Ortega, Austin Powell's mother, said she lost her only child due to Ashtyn Ortega's actions, and her granddaughter will never have her dad at her cheerleading competitions or in significant moments of her life.
"I want you to know that Austin's death weighs heavy on my heart and my husband, but we don't hold any ill will toward you .… I know it was a tragic mistake. I don't blame you for killing my son. I have to try to forgive you for my son," Nicole Ortega said.
The two mothers, and others in the courtroom, cried as video footage was shown from doorbell cameras that played audio of the shots, and as footage from first responders was played.
Fuentes' mother, Vicky Martinez, said her son was a man with a lot of dreams, and those were taken away. She said he wanted to be a good father to his son and hoped to become a lawyer.
Multiple family members spoke or read letters sent to the court talking about Powell and Fuentes and how significant their losses have been.
Jones said the level of support at the hearing for both victims and for Ortega was "overwhelming." She said there were many emotions shared during the sentencing, including love, fear, forgiveness and anger, but the most prominent emotion was pain. She told Ortega that his actions "without question" impacted the families of Powell and Fuentes.
She said the senseless acts that night ended the hopes and dreams of two young men and their families, and impacted Ortega's family as well.
Ortega said he looks back at the decision to hand the firearm to his friend with regret.
"No words can explain how sorry I am for the pain I have caused," he told the judge and others in the courtroom. "That was the worst mistake of my life, and I regret it every day."
He told people in the courtroom the charges don't reflect him. He said he does not like violence, and at the time he was doing drugs and alcohol daily and was not thinking clearly.
"I appreciate every one of you guys speaking; I listened to everything that was said. I'm just as heartbroken as everybody else here that I'm involved in this," he told the victims' families.
Ortega's attorney, Edward Brass, asked the judge to suspend the prison sentences and instead send Ortega to jail for between one and two years and to release him to a treatment program. His mother and grandmother spoke and said Ortega was loving and caring and has more to offer the world.
"I ask that Ashtyn be given a second chance at life; he's never been in any trouble," his mom said.
