In the early hours of May 12, 1997, Karen Thompson, a young mother of two, was shot – point blank – in the back of the head. Her senseless murder resulted in one of the larger media blitzes in Toledo crime history. People were outraged at the violence and demanded justice. The Lucas County Prosecutor’s office put out a statement saying that ‘if the youth is certified as an adult for trial, her office likely will seek an indictment that would include the death penalty . . . ‘

The juvenile suspect, 15 year old Vicente Guevara, was certified as an adult, convicted, and received a life sentence. The actual killer was his 14 year old 1/2 brother, Orlando ‘Orly’ Ochoa.

Vicente was subjected to hours of interrogation with no attorney present. When his mother finally arrived at the station he confessed to the killing – taking the blame for his brother’s deliberate actions. Later, when he tried to withdraw his guilty plea, he was denied.

Years into his sentence investigators began to piece together the evidence – or more accurately – the lack of evidence in the case. A year’s battle for public records, resulting in a Court of Claims suit against the Toledo Police Department, revealed numerous items missing from TPD’s records and property rooms – including: The ballistics report that would have shown gunshot residue on Orly’s (not Vicente’s) clothing; the clothing worn by Orly that would have contained ‘blow-back’ and gunshot residue due to his proximity when he pulled the trigger. Vicente’s clothing was missing, too. There would have been no evidence found on the clothes he wore the night of the murder; he was nowhere near the crime scene.

Also missing was a section of the 7-11 security camera tape. Those who knew what actually happened say that Orly bragged he was going to ‘blow away the 7-11 cashier’ (Karen Thompson) after she refused to sell him beer. The argument between Thompson & Ochoa is believed to be what was edited out of the 7-11 security camera video.

Finally, the actual interviews between police and and key witnesses cannot be located. Other interviews, with witnesses that had little to offer, have been recovered.

Over the years, those with inside information about the case feared coming forward because of Orly’s out of control temper. But after he died in a gun related fight, several witnesses surfaced, including a woman who literally saw the ‘smoking gun’ as Ochoa stood, alone, over Thompson’s lifeless body.

Many other people who knew Orly have stated that he confessed to the murder that resulted in his brother’s conviction.