Man charged in death of ICU nurse released on $150K bond, now wanted on probation revocation

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - The man accused of killing a 36-year-old ICU nurse in an alleged drunk-driving crash was released from jail on a $150,000 bond despite already being on deferred probation for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Now, Ethan Ortiz is wanted in Wharton County for allegedly violating that probation.

What they're saying:

Ethan Ortiz is accused of killing 36-year-old ICU nurse Joseph Perales Jr.

On July 5, police say Perales was in an Uber when an intoxicated Ortiz rear-ended the Uber vehicle.

"Whenever I would hear this happened to somebody, I would always say today a mom is waking up without her child, and now I'm the mom," said Joesph's mother Delia Perales. "Every day, I cry every morning, I cry every night, I cry, I sleep with the clothes he was wearing that night to smell him. This guy has ripped my heart out of my chest."

At the time of the crash, Ortiz was serving nine years deferred probation in Wharton County.

According to court records, in 2021, Ortiz pled guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Wharton County.

While there's barely a mention on the probated sentence in Harris County court records, Wharton County has filed a motion to revoke Ortiz's probation and one of the reasons cited is his intoxication manslaughter charges in Harris County. 

"The bond should have been higher," said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers. "Maybe they should have reached out to Wharton County, your guy here is charged with intoxication manslaughter. Are you going to file a motion to revoke? We can keep him in custody here. When you file the motion, we can raise his bond, but it appears there was no discussion between Wharton County and Harris County."

Right now, Ortiz is wanted for the motion to revoke probation. 

What you can do:

His next court appearance in Harris County is scheduled for November 11.