The 37-year-old father, Rolando Ortiz allegedly told investigators he used a knife to slash his child Mateo Garcia Aguayo’s throat, nearly severing the boy’s head from his body. Rolando Ortiz is now facing first-degree murder charges after killing his son because the boy was running around and keeping him awake.
At a Thursday press conference, Commander Brendan Deenihan of the Chicago Police Department detailed the allegations against Rolando Ortiz. Deenihan alleges Ortiz fled the scene after realizing he had murdered his son, Mateo Garcia Aguayo. Mateo’s remains were recovered Wednesday evening from a trash bag in the kitchen of Ortiz’s second-floor apartment in the city’s Little Village neighborhood.
Deenihan told reporters that Rolando Ortiz was at home with his 2-year-old son Mateo and the 2-year-old baby was running around and was keeping Rolando awake. Out of frustration, Rolando grabs the 2-year-old in the kitchen and holds him down. He then retrieves a knife, cuts the baby in the throat, causing his death.
Ortiz was arrested Wednesday night in Kankakee, Illinois, about an hour’s drive from Chicago. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called the killing “brutal and horrific” during Thursday’s press conference.
Police allege that Ortiz called his wife after the killing, but was not able to reach her at work. Investigators said Ortiz and his wife work different shifts at the same business. He then called his sister-in-law, according to investigators, and allegedly told her he had murdered her nephew; she lives in the apartment below. The sister-in-law alerted other relatives and together, they went into Ortiz’s apartment, where they found Mateo’s lifeless body. Deenihan told reporters a kitchen knife recovered from the crime scene is likely the murder weapon, but forensic investigators have yet to confirm that.
Ortiz and Mateo’s mother have other children together, but none were at home at the time of the killing.
