The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office has been featured on the A&E show “Murder at the Motel”. The episode tells the story of twenty-eight-year-old Sonya Ortego’s (or-ta-go) murder at the Dees Motel by Jackie Pruitt on March 24, 2016. Chief Deputy Jared Morton describes the scene.
“One of our patrol deputies entered the room and located the victim Sonya Ortego, not clothed laying on the floor of her own motel room. Blood all over the room all over the walls.”
Pruitt was traveling through town for a court date the following day and rented a room for the night. Morton says the motive for the murder remains unknown.
Well never know what exactly what took place, but I can tell you he spent one night there. They didn’t know each other at all.”
Deputies found Pruitt at the courthouse where they questioned him and acquired a search warrant for his car and found the victims cellphone covered in blood. Morton noticed blood on his vehicle and scratches on his body. He was arrested and DNA obtained matched the victim.
“It was common with here to always sit in her room with the door open. She like to watch just the activity, and the vehicles passing by. She would vast with other occupants there at the hotel.”
Pruitt was convicted of first-degree murder in 2017.
You can watch “Murder at the Motel” on A&E or stream online now.
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