POUGHKEEPSIE – Nestor Ortiz-Ocampo, 18, is facing murder and manslaughter charges for the September 2021 death of Quarran Smith after an altercation at Arlington High School. Prosecutors say that Ortiz-OCampo plunged a knife into the chest of the 16-year-old victim, killing him during the fight. The defense rested its case without Ortiz-Ocampo taking the stand.
During a conference without the jury in the court on Monday, a family member of the victim erupted and stormed out of the courtroom as the defense team was trying to convince Judge Segal that an argument could be made blaming the victim and his friends for the death because they previously attacked the defendant. The woman could be heard pounding the wall in the hallway, loudly saying, “He pulled a knife out,” several times before court officers and family members were able to quiet her.
Additional court officers have been present since the trial started on July 24 to prevent altercations between supporters of the defendant and the victim’s family.
Defense attorney Bruce Barket says that his client, with an IQ of 70, is a “borderline disabled” person who acted in self-defense on September 17, 2021. The defense says video evidence presented to the jury shows that the victim and five friends surrounded Ortiz-Ocampo and began beating him. The defendant fell to the ground and the group continued the beating. Barket says his client tried to run away from the group when the victim cut off his escape route, which led to the stabbing.
During the interview with detectives from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, Ortiz-Ocampo said he thought Smith and the others were going to attack him a second time. The defense claims Ortiz-Ocampo used “justified deadly physical force” because he was in fear of being attacked again.
The jury was presented with the video interview of Ortiz-Ocampo with a detective. In it, the defendant is heard saying, “What I did was really bad. I’m sorry for the kid – I didn’t want to do it.” Not knowing that Smith was already dead, the accused also said, “I hope the kid is good.”
Barket has also tried to convince the jury that his client wasn’t trying to kill the victim when he stabbed him in the chest. He asserts that his client was trying to stab him in the abdomen, to avoid killing him. “He didn’t intend to seriously injure him,” he told the jury during his closing arguments on Monday.
Barket’s claims of self-defense were strongly refuted by Dutchess County Senior Assistant District Attorney Andrea Long during her summation on Monday. “This is not fear, it’s retaliation.” Long disputed the claim that Ortiz-Ocampo was in fear for his life when he stabbed 16-year-old Quarran Smith. Long reminded the jury that Ortiz-Ocampo threw the first punch in the initial fight and that he also changed his sweatshirt to avoid being identified by security and police after the stabbing. Once the victim had been wounded, the alleged killer ran to his uncle’s house and a short time later, the uncle returned with the accused, who claims he was seriously injured in the fight. Initial assessment by EMS at the scene determined no serious injuries had been inflicted.
Long also referenced the video footage that shows Ortiz-Ocampo, running toward Smith with the knife fully exposed before he plunged it three-and-one-half inches into the victim’s chest. The knife entered Smith between the fifth and sixth ribs, pierced the right lung, pericardial sac, right atrium of the heart, interior vena cava, right pulmonary vein, and left lung.
The defendant also lied about how he came to possess the knife. He originally told detectives that he had found the knife by a bridge and carried it for his protection. It was determined that Ortiz-Ocampo had taken the knife from his house and had been carrying it with him for several months.
The jury is expected to receive instructions on Tuesday before they begin deliberating the defendant’s fate. He is charged with murder with intent and manslaughter with intent to cause physical injury.
*Mid-Hudson News student journalist and law enthusiast Andrew Martin contributed to this story.
