Inset: Miguel Angel Ortiz Jr. (Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center). Background: The residential street near where Ortiz's infant son was found dead in Pharr, Texas (Google Maps).
A Texas man is facing decades behind bars for the role he played in the death of his infant son, prosecutors announced this week.
On Tuesday, Miguel Angel Ortiz Jr., 38, was convicted by a jury in Hidalgo County on one count of injury to a child by omission over the June 2025 death of his 2-month-old baby boy.
The jury also recommended a sentence of 30 years in state prison, but the man's fate is in the hands of the judge overseeing his case.
The defendant was acquitted of charges of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, murder, injury to a child, and aggravated assault of a family member, jail records show.
Sentencing in the case was originally scheduled to occur on Thursday but was pushed back to next week, Hidalgo County District Attorney Toribio "Terry" Palacios told Weslaco-based ABC affiliate KRGV.
The case began in June 2025, when police performed a wellness check at a residence on East Sam Houston Boulevard in Pharr, a medium-sized city in the Lower Rio Grande Valley metro area.
Officers with the Pharr Police Department found the couple's 2-month-old dead, KRGV reported at the time. An autopsy revealed myriad injuries, including bruising to his skull, chest, and buttocks. The medical examiner also noted "signs of decomposition."
On the day of the grim discovery, the child's mother, Karina Aidee Ramirez, 35, walked out of the house carrying her dead child "wrapped in blankets," according to a press release issued by the police department, MyRGV previously reported.
Karina Ramirez (Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center).
The wellness check occurred because one of Ortiz's friends reported he "claimed that his infant son had died three days prior," police said.
As the investigation continued, law enforcement learned the couple had an active case pending with Child Protective Services at the time.
In a separate case filed at the same time, Ortiz was also charged with possession of marijuana and tampering with evidence, records show. The tampering charge was later dismissed by prosecutors.
Ramirez is still facing charges of capital murder of a child under 10 years old, injury to a child, and endangering a child, jail records show.
Both parents have been incarcerated in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center since June 23, 2025. Ortiz remains behind bars pending his sentencing. Ramirez is still detained on a combined $350,000 bond.
The mother has a hearing in her case slated for June 15.
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