Suspected drug trafficker in Utah charged with June murder of San Fernando man

A young Mexican national who was arrested in Utah on suspicion of narcotics and weapons possession has been charged with the murder of a San Fernando man on June 15, two days before his arrest.

Jason Felix, 23, had been living around Southern California, “but he didn’t have a stable location” where he was residing, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza said. 

Felix was pulled over by Utah Highway Patrol on June 17 during a routine traffic stop. Authorities found narcotics and a gun on Felix, Mendoza said. 

Sheriff’s homicide investigators traced Felix to Utah when he was identified as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Jorge Ortega Gonzalez, a 35-year-old Latino. 

A warrant for Felix’s arrest was issued Aug. 4, charging him with Gonzalez’s murder, and investigators are working to extradite Felix.

Gonzalez was shot in the head June 15 in the one-room building where he lived behind an apartment complex in the 300 block of Griswold Avenue. Family members found him and called 911, but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:45 p.m.

Investigators think Gonzalez was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine, Mendoza said, and his murder was a “narcotics transaction gone awry.”

Mendoza said he couldn’t specify whether any drugs were taken from Gonzalez’s home. Investigators don’t know whether the narcotics and gun found on Felix when he was arrested in Utah are connected to the fatal shooting in San Fernando. 

Felix also faces federal charges for the transportation of narcotics, Mendoza said. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.