WHARTON COUNTY — A man charged with intoxication manslaughter in the July 5 death of a 36-year-old ICU nurse is now wanted in Wharton County after being released from jail on a $150,000 bond.
Ethan Ortiz is charged in connection with the death of Joseph Perales Jr., who police say was riding in an Uber when Ortiz rear-ended the vehicle while intoxicated.
The crash occurred July 5 in Harris County. Perales, an ICU nurse, died as a result of the crash, and Ortiz was subsequently charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Ortiz was later released from the Harris County Jail after posting a $150,000 bond.
At the time of the crash, however, Ortiz was already serving a lengthy deferred adjudication probation sentence out of Wharton County.
According to court records, Ortiz pleaded guilty in 2021 to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Wharton County and was placed on nine years of deferred probation.
Following the new Harris County case, Wharton County filed a motion seeking to revoke Ortiz’s probation. One of the reasons cited in the motion is the intoxication manslaughter charge filed against him in Harris County.
The Wharton County probation reportedly received little mention in Harris County court records, raising questions about whether information concerning Ortiz’s existing probation status was adequately communicated between the two counties before his release.
Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers questioned whether additional communication between Harris and Wharton counties could have resulted in Ortiz remaining in custody or having a higher bond set.
“The bond should have been higher,” Kahan told FOX 26 Houston.
Kahan questioned whether Harris County officials could have contacted Wharton County before Ortiz’s release to determine whether a motion to revoke his probation would be filed, potentially allowing authorities to keep him in custody while the Wharton County matter was addressed.
Ortiz is currently wanted in connection with the Wharton County motion to revoke probation.
His next scheduled court appearance in Harris County is Nov. 11.
The intoxication manslaughter charge remains pending, as does the Wharton County probation-revocation proceeding. A criminal charge is an allegation, and Ortiz is presumed innocent of the new charge unless proven guilty in court.
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