Woman arrested in shooting of Ortiz in 2019

Authorities in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Venezuelan woman long wanted in connection with the shooting that nearly killed Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz in June 2019.

María Fernanda Villasmil Manzanilla, 25, was arrested Tuesday in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo “for being linked to the shooting incident,” according to Dominican Republic National Police.

It was not clear what charges she is facing.

Manzanilla had been sought under “a red notice” since shortly after the shooting on June 9, 2019, police said in a social media post. Manzanilla “was placed under the control of the Public Ministry,” and police seized her Venezuelan passport, two iPhones, bank cards, cash, jewelry, and other electronics.

A representative for Ortiz could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

The shooting nearly killed Ortiz, the former Sox slugger and now a Hall of Famer, who is a beloved figure both in Boston and his native Dominican Republic. In the months after the attack, he endured multiple surgeries, first in Santo Domingo and later at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ten men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the brazen shooting at a Dominican bar.

Among those sentenced in December 2022 were the shooter, Rolfi Ferreira Cruz, who fired a bullet into Ortiz’s back from point-blank range, and his getaway man, Eddy Féliz García. Both were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Another defendant, Alberto Miguel Rodríguez Mota, received a 20year sentence for paying the failed hitmen, according to the East Santo Domingo prosecutor’s office.

The government’s highestprofile suspect — an accused drug trafficker who prosecutors alleged was the mastermind — was acquitted for lack of evidence, according to the man’s lawyer.

Two other suspects were also acquitted.