JULY 21, 2026
Man convicted of killing Michigan woman files pro se lawsuit against Trump seeking $75 million, apology, and citizenship
Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 27, serving 39 to 102 years in prison for the 2024 murder of Ruby Garcia in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has filed a handwritten federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump and White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Steven Cheung. The suit seeks $75 million in damages, a public apology, and naturalization to U.S. citizenship. Ortiz-Vite, who had previously been in the U.S. under DACA and was deported after a 2020 DWI arrest, contends that Trump's use of his case as a political talking point caused him humiliation and damaged his dignity.
Brandon Ortiz-Vite pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the March 2024 killing of Ruby Garcia, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds along a road in Grand Rapids. The two had been in a romantic relationship and were involved in an argument at the time of the killing, according to Fox News. Ortiz-Vite had previously entered the U.S. and remained under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program until his status expired in May 2019; he was subsequently deported following a 2020 DWI arrest.
Trump highlighted Ortiz-Vite's case during a 2024 campaign rally in Grand Rapids, calling him "America's problem" and featuring his mugshot in campaign commercials as an example of what Trump described as "murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers" residing illegally in the United States, Fox News reported. Ortiz-Vite, acting as his own attorney, wrote in the handwritten complaint that the national media attention placed him in a "nightmare," that he was mocked by prison staff and inmates, and that being used as a political example "shattered my dignity." He said he took full responsibility for the murder but described Trump's use of his case for "political gain on TV" as "unjust."
Criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Matthew Borgula told Fox News Digital the suit is unlikely to survive the initial court screening required for prisoner complaints. Borgula said presidential immunity covers official acts and that Trump's statements were "substantially true," adding that "being publicly embarrassed by a politician isn't a constitutional violation." He noted that Ortiz-Vite pleaded guilty and said he saw "no legal avenue for collecting damages on a theory that your conviction was unfair."