Murder At Blue Kangaroo: Joliet Bench Trial Starts For Chuck Bretz's Client

JOLIET, IL — Four years and four months after Joliet police arrested Cristian Angel Ortiz-Arias for killing another Joliet teenager in the parking lot of the Blue Kangaroo Laundromat on Cass Street, Ortiz is ready to stand trial, but he did not want 12 Will County citizens determining his guilt or innocence.

On Monday, Ortiz and his private criminal defense lawyer, Chuck Bretz, indicated they were waiving Ortiz's right to have a jury trial. Instead, they wanted to have their case decided by a judge. Courtroom 402 is assigned to Will County Judge Amy Christiansen, a former long-time Will County Public Defender who became a judge in 2024.

Trial testimony from the prosecution will begin Tuesday at the Will County Courthouse.

According to his criminal complaint, Ortiz was charged with first-degree murder just two days after the May 2021 slaying of Diego Guadalupe Arriga, age 17.

At the time of his Joliet police arrest, Ortiz was also 17 years old. The victim was found around 5 a.m. on a Saturday in the back parking lot of the Blue Kangaroo Laundromat at 606 East Cass St.

Besides first-degree murder, the Will County State's Attorney's prosecutors charged Ortiz-Arias with three additional felonies: two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one count of unlawful possession of firearms.

Back in November 2023, when the case was still before Will County Judge Dan Rippy, Ortiz lost his motion seeking pretrial release. The judge cited the dangerousness standard as his main reason for not letting Ortiz out of Will County's Jail.

According to court files, Joliet police responded to the Blue Kangaroo Laundromat on May 22, 2021, at 4:55 a.m. They found Diego face down with a large of blood near him. Diego had been shot in the back three times and died from his gunshot wounds. Two eyewitnesses came forward in time.

They told Joliet police how they picked up Ortiz and drove him to the naerby McDonald's restaurant drive-thru before he asked them to take him to the back parking lot of Blue Kangaroo. While in the parking lot, Diego came up to their vehicle and they heard gunshots.

"Defendant was on the phone with someone and stated that he killed him and that he was a Vice Lord," prosecutors outlined in 2023 court records. "Defendant also called the witnesses after being dropped off and told them to get rid of any evidence. The two witnesses then found shell casings in the back seat of the vehicle and disposed of them."

Both eyewitnesses later showed Joliet police where the shell casings were put, and Joliet police recovered them as evidence. Ortiz was picked out of a photo lineup, and he was arrested the next day while trying to leave Joliet to get to Missouri, prosecutors outlined.

Back in 2021, Bretz made the following remarks to Joliet Patch about his client, who was just 17 years old at the time: "The family is adamant that he is not culpable for this death, so we intend to mount a vigorous defense."

Past Joliet Patch coverage:

Chuck Bretz To Defend Blue Kangaroo Murder Defendant

Murder Charges Filed Against Joliet Teenager