A courtroom hearing turned dramatic when family members of a 23-year-old victim stood up and attacked the suspect in a murder case. The uncle of the victim jumped off the partition and disrupted the court session at the Bernalillo County District court. The incident happened a year after the Albuquerque police suspected and arrested Alexander Ortiz for killing his ex-girlfriend Alianna Farfan.
Visuals surface
Brawl in courtroom
When Ortiz was produced at the court last week, the victim's family led to a brawl in front of the judge. Uncle Carlos Lucero jumped from his seat to catch hold of the suspect and charged violence at him, followed by another person Pete Ysasi.
The video from the courtroom showed Lucero and Ysasi leaving their seats and trying to approach Ortiz and attack him.
The duo first smashed an unidentified man wearing jeans and a dark long-sleeved shirt, followed by moving towards the suspect.
Ortiz was seen being protected by a corrections officer.
Court officer pulls out Taser to stop fight
A corrections officer who was trying to protect Ortiz from the attack was also attacked by the two men. Reports stated that the court officer was “battered” during the incident.
The fight reportedly concluded when the corrections officer pulled out his Taser.
According to The New York Times, suspect Ortiz’s father, Joeray Ortiz, was one of several people who joined the brawl, however, he stepped in trying to “break up the fight". During the brawl at the court, Lucero allegedly said, "He killed my niece like a coward".
NBC news mentioned Lucero and Ysasi were taken into custody, but released sooner from the Metropolitan Detention Center.
