District Attorney Sean Teare said the charges reflect a renewed push to hold law enforcement accountable.
HOUSTON — A Harris County grand jury returned indictments in connection with two excessive force incidents at the Harris County Jail, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.
District Attorney Sean Teare said misdemeanor assault charges against Nicolas Ontiveros and Devin Ortiz are reflective of a renewed push in his office to hold law enforcement accountable when they tarnish the badge.
“The behavior of both of these individuals is reprehensible,” Teare said.
Last December, KHOU 11 Investigates exposed jail security videos of the incidents as part of its ongoing investigation, Struck: Inside the Harris County Jail.
The first incident, from October 2023, shows the two detention officers walking into a holding cell and sitting inmate Taylor Frettinger down on a concrete bench.
Detention officer Ontiveros is seen landing a right hook to the face of Frettinger, and seconds later, then-officer Ortiz also punched him in the head.
In another video, from January 2024, Ortiz shoved inmate Maricarla Marjion-Diaz against a wall, then body slammed her down on the concrete jail floor. Ortiz then picked the incarcerated woman back up and proceeded to throw her to the floor a second time.
During both incidents, the inmates were handcuffed behind their backs.
“And then to go forward and continue to assault them and do the things that we all saw on the video is unacceptable,” Teare said.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office previously said Ortiz resigned from the department in April 2024. The same month, he joined the Houston Police Academy and later graduated and became an HPD officer. After KHOU 11 Investigates started asking questions, the Houston Police Department launched an investigation into whether Ortiz was truthful on his job application about the jail incidents. HPD fired Ortiz in January.
In the documentary Struck: Inside the Harris County Jail, KHOU 11 Investigates discovered 810 cases over four years in which detention officers struck inmates in the head under questionable circumstances.
Teare said he’s committed to prosecuting any law enforcement officer who crosses the criminal line.
“We completely reconstituted our police integrity division,” Teare said. “We are looking at every new case, but we’re also going back to make sure that we haven’t missed anything where the statute of limitations is still there, where law enforcement can be held accountable for the bad acts that they conduct.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said Ontiveros is still a detention officer but was reassigned to the records bureau in March and has no contact with inmates. A spokesperson said the department is reviewing the case to determine whether disciplinary action, including possible termination, is warranted.