“Little Giselle” Ortiz
SHOOTING OF “LITTLE GISELLE” GOT PAST ME
San Francisco, CA– Having lived in the East Bay for a short period of time, I was stunned at the number of Homicides in Oakland, CA, a city just across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. Both famous and infamous people die violently in Oakland. Huey P. Newton, once the leader of the Black Panthers, was shot dead in a crack deal gone wrong, while journalist Chauncey Bailey, a reporter for the Oakland Post newspaper, who covered both community events and crime. Mr. Bailey was shot dead in 2007, this as he pled for his life after getting off an Oakland bus and being accosted by a member of the Your Black Muslim Bakery crew of criminals, Devaughndre Broussard. It was later determined that Broussard was ordered to kill Chauncey by Yusuf Bey IV, because his writings were about to expose the now convicted murderer Bey as the head of a criminal enterprise operating under the guise of the bakery. After Bailey’s death, The Post interviewed me as a possible replacement, an impossible task as no one could ever fill Chauncey Bailey’s shoes.
HAVING BECOME ALMOST IMMUNE TO OAKLAND DEATHS, I DIDN’T CONNECT “LITTLE GISELLE”
While celebrating her 26th birthday (July 30) this past Sunday, I read Monday’s police blotter on how one Giselle Ortiz was shot and killed in Oakland in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Having known Giselle since her pre-school days, this because I was a dear friend of her mother Robin Ortiz, the homicide report involving Giselle somehow went in one ear and out the other. Thus, I did not find out until today that the Giselle Ortiz slain last weekend was the little girl I used to buy ice cream for. Having lost several friends in the last several months, including former world champion Genaro Hernandez and fellow broadcaster Nick Charles to name just two, and with my late father’s two surviving brothers clinging to life in Hospice, when I realized it was Robin’s “Little Giselle” who was shot dead by an estranged ex-boyfriend, I broke down in tears and had to pull off the Bay Bridge and park on Treasure Island as my memories of Robin and Louis Ortiz’s daughter flashed before my eyes.
MOM, GISELLE & LOUIS JR. USED TO WATCH ME TRAVERSE THE BERNAL HEIGHTS HILLS
When we were an item, Robin and I, this in the late 1980s, Robin would drive the car and she would time me on my 45 minute runs up and down the hills of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood. I used to “try” and buy Giselle and Louis ice cream and popcorn either before or afterward. Their mother, now a recognized instructor at a Dental College would pitch a bitch, but me and the kids, we won out a few times. I can remember taking them to the movies and their mom freaking out over candy and popcorn. Giselle was a beautiful and warm little girl, polite and proper as a kid, but rebellious both as a teenager and young adult, sometimes we all watched TV together until she fell asleep. Knowing then, that the now revitalized Bernal Heights area was the “hood” per se, single mother Robin put herself through college and moved her and the kids to what was thought to be a better neighborhood in Hayward, CA.
DIDN’T SEE “LITTLE GISELLE” AGAIN UNTIL “JU-JU” WAS SHOT DEAD IN JULY 2008
The Beautiful Giselle Ortiz
Living with her ex-husband Guillermo Mejia in a quaint Oakland home, I was a guest of the Mejia’s in 2008, this after Robin and I had attended the funeral of a mutual friend, William “Ju-Ju” Amrull, whose shooting death on Holly Park Circle in our old neighborhood remains unsolved. Since then, Giselle and Guillermo split up and she, with custody of six-year old Guillermo Jr.. and two year old Gabrielle Aolani, last year began seeing the man who is said (alleged) to have perpetrated this murderous act, Cecil Sagapolu, a parolee, who is being held on a “no bail” parole violation as the Police and District Attorney determine whether or not to file “Murder With Special Circumstances,” which in California can bring the Death Penalty.
HAD DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGE & RESTRAINING ORDER
The reason why the “Murder With Special Circumstances” should apply here is that Sagapolu, a parolee, had possession of a handgun, was facing “Domestic Violence” charges and had a “stay away” order signed by a Judge to protect Giselle from this madman. Both the Judge and District Attorney, when Sagapolu appeared in a Hayward, CA court yesterday on the Domestic Violence charges, were “stunned” Giselle was dead and that Cecil Sagapolu was the only suspect.
NEIGHBORHOOD TO GATHER AT GARFIELD PARK TOMORROW AT NOON
Resting In Peace: Giselle Ortiz
The family has organized a get together of sorts for Giselle on Sunday afternoon in the Mission District’s Garfield Park at 3100 26th St., or the corner of 26th & Harrison Sts. Services will be held Thursday from 3-8 PM at VALENTE, MARINI PERATA, & CO. at 4840 Mission St., San Francisco, CA. 94112.
MY CLOSING THOUGHTS
Having been around for quite a while, being a former Police Officer, having worked in Social Services, I can’t think of a better single parent and role model than Robin Ortiz. That being said and knowing “Little Giselle” since her pre-school days, this was both extremely emotional and painful to write. Unfortunately, there are no words that can bring her back!
Pedro “Pete” Fernandez