Porterville man accused in Ivanhoe murder

A Porterville man was among five arrested accused of a crime spree in which a man was shot and killed.

Alexander Ceballos, 24 of Porterville was arrested. Also arrested were Joshua Davidson, 23 of Visalia, Jacob Enriquez, 25 of Tulare, Joshua Uribe, 18 of Goshen, and Afredo Gaona, 19 of Visalia. They are all accused of going on a crime spree on Monday night.

Around 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Tulare County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the 32000 Block of Road 156 in Ivanhoe for a person who had been shot.

When Deputies arrived, they found a man who had been shot and killed. The man was identified as 19-year-old Ivan Ortiz of Delano.

Over the next 36 hours, Homicide Detectives pieced together the five who were arrested went on a crime spree, TCSO stated.

The five men started in Ivanhoe, where they committed a strongarmed robbery on a victim sitting in his car. The suspects then drove to Woodlake where a victim reported the men pulled out a gun.

From there, they moved to another area of Woodlake, where they carjacked someone at gunpoint. Deputies tracked Uribe and Gaona down in the stolen truck and arrested them for the carjacking and armed robbery.

While Uribe and Gaona were being arrested, Deputies were dispatched to Ivanhoe for the murder of Ortiz.

On Tuesday, Davidson, was arrested for the murder of Ortiz. On Thursday, both Ceballos and Enriquez were also arrested for the murder of Ortiz. All three were also charged for the strong-armed robbery and the carjacking in Woodlake.

Search warrants were served at the homes of the three suspects and all three homes revealed evidence linking the suspects to the crimes.

This is still an active investigation. Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to contact Sergeant Bryan Clower and/or Detective Greg May with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at (559) 733-6218, or you can remain anonymous by calling or texting (559) 7254194 or through email at tcso@tipnow.com.