A Hood River man is behind bars and has been indicted by a grand jury for murder for allegedly killing the mother of his child.
Miguel Angel Quintana-Soto, 29, was arraigned Monday morning in Hood River County Circuit Court on murder and first degree manslaughter charges as well as two counts of fourth degree assault constituting domestic violence after allegedly killing Cecilia Campuzano-Ortiz, 23, who was the mother of their child, Damaris, 3. According to Mayra Ramos, a friend of Campuzano-Ortiz, Damaris is currently in the custody of the child’s grandparents.
The body of Campuzano-Ortiz was discovered by law enforcement in her apartment near Montello Avenue and 22nd Street on Oct. 6. Authorities responded to the residence on a welfare check after friends and coworkers reported they had not heard from Campuzano-Ortiz for several days. Campuzano-Ortiz was previously a supervisor at Cardinal IG in Odell and most recently worked at U.S. Cellular in Hood River.
Quintana-Soto was arrested the day after Campuzano-Ortiz was discovered deceased in her home. The initial arrest stemmed from Quintana-Soto allegedly violating the terms of his probation he received in September 2013 after he was convicted of assaulting Campuzano-Ortiz that July. As part of his 18-month probation, Quintana-Soto was ordered to have no contact with Campuzano-Ortiz with the exception of mail or email to arrange parenting time or text messaging in the case of a medical emergency of their daughter.
Quintana-Soto was held at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles on the probation violation — what that violation was has not been made clear by authorities — for three days before the grand jury handed down a “secret indictment” midday Friday.
According to the document, Quintana-Soto was indicted for murder for allegedly “unlawfully and intentionally caus(ing) the death” of Campuzano-Ortiz. Under the manslaughter indictment, the description of the charge goes further, alleging that Quintana-Soto killed Campuzano-Ortiz sometime around Saturday, Oct. 4 “while under the influence of an extreme emotional disturbance.”
The indictment also notes the two alleged domestic violence assaults occurred “on or about” Oct. 4, and that one of the assaults alleged by Quintana-Soto was witnessed by Damaris. It adds that those assaults were “part of the same act” as the alleged murder.
Quintana-Soto was arraigned via video feed from NORCOR and was represented by a Portland attorney, Clayton Lance. Quintana-Soto exhibited little emotion and did not speak during the arraignment other than to answer questions from Judge John A. Olson about his English proficiency. According to court documents, Quintana-Soto was born in Mexico and as of his September 2013 conviction, was in the U.S. on a green card and had completed three years of high school.
No information was released in court about the cause of Campuzano-Ortiz’s death. The Hood River Police Department has also released little information about the case and issued a statement on Friday that said the department had handed the case over to the Hood River County District Attorney’s Office and would “not be giving any media release information out regarding the Cecilia Campuzano-Ortiz case.” The DA’s office was contacted for information but declined to discuss the case further.
Quintana-Soto is currently being held without bail at NORCOR and will have his next court date Monday, Nov. 3. If convicted of murder, Quintana-Soto could face up to life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years.
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