GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The man convicted of killing 25-year-old Ruby Garcia and leaving her body on US-131 learned his sentence Thursday.
Brandon Ortiz-Vite was sentenced to a minimum of 39 years in prison for the murder of Garcia.
Ortiz-Vite took a plea deal, pleading guilty to second-degree murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm in relation to Garcia's death.
Ortiz-Vite will serve a minimum of 39 years, and up to 100 years, in prison for the charges.
He was sentenced to two years in prison for felony firearms and a minimum of 37 years for second-degree murder. Those two sentences will be served consecutively.
He was also sentenced to 20 to 80 years for carjacking and three to five years for carrying a concealed weapon. Those sentences will be served concurrently while he is serving time for the previous two convictions.
Ortiz-Vite may also face deportation after serving his sentence.
It was discovered during the investigation that Ortiz-Vite had been in the country illegally. He was previously approved for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and was deported in 2020. It is not clear when he reentered the U.S.
Earlier this year, the case garnered national attention and even contributed to a Grand Rapids visit from President-elect Donald Trump.
Since Garcia's death, some in the community have pushed back on political rhetoric surrounding the situation out of fear of the harm it may do to the local immigrant community at large.
Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker addressed the politics that had emerged around the case.
"No question, this is a domestic violence case," Becker said. "Yes, there is the bigger political thing, but this is something that you know, once again, talking with the family, this is a boyfriend-girlfriend, and we've got to treat it kind of like many other cases, and being very respectful to the family. We don't, I don't want to get caught up- They were obviously uncomfortable being a part of all this in the media storm."
Garcia was killed on March 22. Her body was found by police around 11:35 p.m. on US-131 after she was shot by Ortiz-Vite multiple times and left on the freeway.
Investigators later found Garcia's car in a residential area north of the South Haven area. The car had bullet holes and suspected blood stains inside.
Two days after Garcia's death, Ortiz-Vite called 911 from a church in Allegan County and confessed to killing her, leaving her body and taking her car.
Garcia was laid to rest in March. You can read her obituary here.
