Former Harris County jailer charged months after ABC13 obtained body-slam video

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A former Harris County detention officer caught on video body-slamming a handcuffed woman has been indicted by a grand jury.

Deven Ortiz, a former jailer with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, was indicted Tuesday on two counts of misdemeanor assault. Both stem from separate incidents caught on camera, the first of which was made public in a 13 Investigates report last November.

The video was taken in January 2024. In it, Ortiz is seen forcefully taking down a small-framed woman who was already restrained.

"It was totally unnecessary," said civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen. "That's called excessive force."

But the January video wasn't the only one to raise concerns. Prosecutors say Ortiz was also involved in a separate use-of-force incident in October 2023, three months earlier. Both incidents were reviewed by the Harris County District Attorney's Office and presented to a grand jury.

Ortiz wasn't the only employee indicted.

Detention officer Nicolas Ontiveros, who is still employed by the Sheriff's Office, was also indicted for his role in the 2023 incident.

Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for the department, told ABC13 that Ontiveros was moved in March of this year to a "no contact with inmates assignment" and that his case "will now be reviewed to determine whether disciplinary action, including possible termination, is warranted."

The videos were exposed during a 13 Investigates report on violence within the jail, triggering scrutiny, particularly around the process that allowed Ortiz to move from one law enforcement agency to another.

Despite being under "multiple investigations" at the time, according to the Sheriff's Office, Ortiz was allowed to resign. That same month, he was accepted into the Houston Police Department's academy. He graduated in November 2024. In January 2025, after an investigation, he was fired.

ABC13 has submitted requests for records, which have not been released, to both HPD and the Sheriff's Office to better understand how Ortiz's background was reviewed.

Neither Ortiz nor Ontiveros has been arrested. They don't have an attorney of record listed, and Ortiz has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Kallinen said indictments are only a first step.

"We need to be sure there is follow-through," he said. "And get a conviction."

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