The Tale Of The Two Lil’ Mans: Donnie Ortiz’s Mexican Mafia Murder In Chino, CA Once Again Shows La Eme Has Long Memory

December 24, 2021 — Ousted Mexican Mafia soldier Donnie (Lil’ Man) Ortiz was killed last month after more than two dozen years dodging a murder contract by La Eme shot callers in California. The 59-year old Ortiz was shot to death on a Chino street corner in the late afternoon of November 19. He was kicked out of the Mexican Mafia in the 1990s following a costly lie and allegations of theft that upset his mentor.

Lil’ Man Ortiz came up in La Eme as part of the Whittier Varrio Locos and had an arrest record that dated all the way back to when he was just 11. In 1981, he was convicted on a manslaughter charge. While serving time on a parole violation in 1986 at the L.A. County Jail, he allegedly “made his bones” by killing Northeast L.A. Mexican Mafia lieutenant Danny (Kojack) Deavilla with a butcher’s knife stolen from the jail’s mess hall. But the authenticity of the hit was always in question.

Nonetheless, Lil’ Man Ortiz rose to be the Mexican Mafia’s crew boss in his hometown of Whittier, California. During his reign on the streets in the early-to-mid 1990s, federal authorities believe he ordered or carried out at least three gangland murders.

Ortiz officially fell out of favor with his bosses in La Eme in 1995 and in a meeting of Mexican Mafia shot callers in a motel room in the San Gabriel Valley, the organization booted Lil’ Man from La Eme and placed a contract on his head, per FBI records. Some in the Mexican Mafia were convinced Lil’ Man Ortiz took credit for Kojack Deavilla’s slaying without having committed it. They claimed court documents backed their cause; in the homicide case eventually brought in the Deavilla prison hit, another La Eme member, Tommy (Lil’ Man) Moreno of the Echo Park clique pleaded guilty to the murder and Lil’ Man Ortiz only copped a plea to accessory.

Ortiz’s mentor and La Eme sponsor Danielo (Buddy) Grajeda reportedly felt betrayed by Ortiz’s actions and signed off on the ’95 contract on his life. Grajeda also accused Ortiz of stealing a car, guns and cash from him.

But, despite a number of attempts and plots, La Eme continually failed to kill Lil’ Man Ortiz. And he continually refused to cooperate against the Mexican Mafia bosses that wanted him dead.

Ortiz was caught stealing a car in a police sting and did 13 years in prison. He was released from behind bars in 2019 and moved into an apartment in Chino. The L.A. Times detailed Lil’ Man Ortiz’s rise and fall this week in its Wednesday edition.

This article was originally posted here