18-Year-Old Charged With Murder After Shakopee Man Found Shot Four Times in Wilkie Park
Pictured: Emilio Vallejo Ortiz.
Provided by Scott County Jail.
Published: October 12th 2026.
SHAKOPEE, MN - An 18-year-old Brooklyn Center man has been charged with second-degree intentional murder following the death of a Shakopee landscaping business owner who was found shot multiple times and apparently dragged into a wooded area of Wilkie Park earlier this month.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Scott County District Court, Emilio Vallejo Ortiz, born October 26, 2007, is accused of intentionally causing the death of a 53-year-old man on Saturday, October 3, 2026. The victim's body was discovered the following evening, October 4, along a trail in Wilkie Park. Vallejo Ortiz faces one felony count of second-degree murder with intent, but without premeditation, under Minnesota Statute 609.19.1(1). If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Investigators allege that Vallejo Ortiz, who worked for the victim's landscaping business and had a close personal relationship with him, provided inconsistent accounts of their activities on the day of the killing. According to the complaint, surveillance footage, cellphone location records, and traffic cameras later contradicted his statements.
Victim Discovered Along Trail in Wilkie Park
The investigation began Sunday, October 4, 2026, at about 7:03 p.m., when a Shakopee Police Officer was dispatched to Wilkie Park for a high-priority medical emergency involving a man reportedly not breathing. According to the complaint, three individuals had arrived at the park around 6:43 p.m. and were walking along a trail when they noticed a narrow path leading into the vegetation. Believing the path might lead toward the river, they followed it and discovered a man's body.
One of the individuals touched the man's hand and found it cold. The group then left the area, drove to a nearby gas station, and later returned to speak with responding officers. When the officer arrived, he noticed flattened vegetation approximately 30 feet off the eastern trail. Following the disturbed vegetation, the officer discovered the victim lying on his back in the weeds with a substantial amount of dried blood on his face. The victim's shirt had been pushed above his stomach, and investigators observed indications that he had been dragged by his legs from the trail into the surrounding vegetation. The officer checked for a pulse and found the victim's wrist stiff and cold.
Investigators recovered a wallet from the victim's clothing and used a Minnesota driver's license to identify him. The criminal complaint identifies the victim by his date of birth, July 21, 1973, but does not provide his name in the supplied probable cause statement.
A Shakopee Detective subsequently arrived and observed blood around the victim's mouth and what appeared to be missing teeth. As officers searched the surrounding trail, they discovered small blood spots leading toward a location where law enforcement vehicles had initially parked. After moving the vehicles, officers located a large pool of blood, suggesting the victim had suffered significant blood loss at that location. Investigators also observed drag marks extending from the blood pool into the ditch where the victim's body had been discovered.
Near the blood, officers recovered three spent cartridge casings and one live round of ammunition, all identified as 9mm. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension collected the evidence for further forensic examination.
On October 5th, two additional witnesses told investigators they had walked through Wilkie Park around 11:45 a.m. on October 4th and noticed a large pool of blood and a spent cartridge casing. The witnesses reported picking up the casing, recognizing it as 9mm ammunition, and throwing it away from the trail. Officers later located an additional casing about 150 feet from the original crime scene.
Autopsy Reveals Four Gunshot Wounds
An autopsy determined that the victim had suffered four gunshot wounds, including injuries to his back, chest, shoulder, and face. According to the complaint, one bullet entered the victim's left back and exited through his chest near his left armpit. A second bullet entered his right back and exited through the left side of his chest, striking his right lung, aorta, and left lung. A third bullet entered the front of his right shoulder and remained lodged inside his body. The fourth bullet entered between his mouth and the tip of his nose before becoming lodged in his neck.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and classified the manner of death as homicide.
Investigators conducted extensive searches around the crime scene in an effort to locate the firearm used in the killing. The searches included firearm-detection dogs and mowing portions of the densely vegetated area. However, according to the complaint, investigators had not recovered the firearm. Officers also discovered that the victim's cellphone was missing from the immediate area where his body was found.
Using historical and current cellphone data, investigators determined that the phone appeared to remain somewhere near the crime scene. A mobile cell-site simulator helped narrow the search area. An officer eventually called the victim's phone and heard it ringing. Investigators located the device approximately 130 feet north of where the body had been discovered.
Investigation Leads to Victim's Landscaping Employee
As investigators worked to establish the victim's identity and recent activities, officers visited his apartment in Shakopee. There, they discovered damage to the apartment door and learned that the victim had reported a break-in on October 3rd, the same day investigators believe he was killed.
Neighbors told police the victim had lived in the apartment for several years and operated a landscaping business. They also reported that a younger male employee sometimes stayed at the apartment and believed the employee lived in either Brooklyn Center or Brooklyn Park.
Investigators later contacted the victim's family, including his sister and nephews. His nephews described him as hardworking and said he worked for several landscaping businesses, including one he owned. They told investigators he frequently sent money to Mexico. When officers notified the victim's sister of his death, she expressed suspicion about an employee she knew as Emilio.
According to the complaint, she told investigators the victim and Emilio were very close and that she believed they may have been romantically involved. She cited occasions when the victim had taken Emilio to expensive dinners and allowed him to drive his vehicles. The complaint does not independently establish that the two had a romantic relationship, and Vallejo Ortiz later denied it during his interview with police.
The victim's sister also told investigators that Emilio had access to the victim's 2023 Ford Raptor pickup truck. With assistance from the victim's brother, investigators obtained Emilio's telephone number and identified him as Emilio Vallejo Ortiz. Police determined the victim owned five vehicles, including the Ford Raptor, which investigators could not locate.
Automated license plate reader cameras had recorded the Raptor in the Brooklyn Center area at approximately 11:12 a.m. and 3 p.m. on October 3rd. On October 5th, Brooklyn Center law enforcement located the truck unoccupied in an apartment building parking lot approximately 1.1 miles from Vallejo Ortiz's residence. Investigators found no key inside the vehicle.
Defendant Initially Provides Timeline That Investigators Say Was Inconsistent
On October 5th, Shakopee Detectives interviewed Vallejo Ortiz in a conference room at his apartment building. According to the complaint, Vallejo Ortiz acknowledged working with the victim, explaining that they typically worked together Monday through Friday for a separate company identified as Magnolia and performed additional work for the victim's business on weekends.
He also acknowledged that the victim sometimes allowed him to drive his vehicles. However, Vallejo Ortiz initially claimed he had last driven the Ford Raptor on Thursday, October 1st, and denied driving it during the weekend of the killing. He told detectives he and the victim worked together from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, October 2nd. He said the victim planned to go dancing afterward and had invited him, but he declined.
Regarding Saturday, October 3rd, Vallejo Ortiz initially told investigators that the victim picked him up around noon and drove him to the victim's Shakopee apartment so he could receive payment for his work. He claimed they arrived around 1 p.m., when the victim showed him damage to his apartment door and asked him to check a closet for missing belongings.
Vallejo Ortiz initially stated that the victim dropped him off at his Brooklyn Center apartment around 3 p.m. When detectives asked for a more detailed timeline, his account changed. He then claimed the victim picked him up at approximately 11:10 a.m. and that they traveled to a Menards store in Burnsville to purchase a replacement door lock. He said they left Menards around 1:15 p.m., arrived at the victim's apartment around 2 p.m., and returned to Brooklyn Center around 3:40 p.m.
Vallejo Ortiz claimed he spent the remainder of the day and evening at either his apartment or his parents' apartment in the same building. He also denied owning a firearm.
Vallejo Ortiz initially agreed to allow detectives to search his cellphone. Investigators later obtained a search warrant after discovering that cellphone location records and surveillance footage significantly contradicted his statements.
Surveillance Video Places Defendant With Victim Hours Later
Investigators obtained cellphone location records for both the victim and Vallejo Ortiz, along with surveillance footage from Menards and traffic cameras operated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. According to the complaint, those records established a timeline that differed substantially from the defendant's account.
The victim's cellphone was recorded near Vallejo Ortiz's Brooklyn Center apartment around 11 a.m. and again between 2:56 p.m. and 3:09 p.m. on October 3rd.
However, investigators determined that the victim's cellphone was near the Burnsville Menards between approximately 5:20 p.m. and 5:32 p.m., several hours after Vallejo Ortiz claimed they visited the store.
Surveillance footage showed the Ford Raptor entering the Menards parking lot around 5:15 p.m.
Investigators identified Vallejo Ortiz as the driver and the victim as the passenger.
The footage showed both men entering the store and walking to the door handles and locks aisle around 5:23 p.m.
The victim selected an item while Vallejo Ortiz stood nearby, then paid cash at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Both men left the store, with Vallejo Ortiz again entering the driver's seat of the Raptor.
The truck departed the parking lot at approximately 5:32 p.m., traveling westbound on the Highway 13 Frontage Road.
Minnesota Department of Transportation footage subsequently recorded the Raptor traveling westbound on Highway 13 at 5:34 p.m. and continuing onto Highway 101 at 5:37 p.m., a route investigators said would have taken the vehicle toward Wilkie Park.
The victim's cellphone was detected near the location where his body was later discovered beginning at approximately 5:37 p.m. and did not move from that area afterward.
Meanwhile, detailed location information recovered from Vallejo Ortiz's phone placed his device in the Wilkie Park parking lot between approximately 5:39 p.m. and 5:51 p.m.
At 5:52 p.m., his phone moved into the vicinity of the crime scene, where it remained until approximately 6:01 p.m.
Traffic cameras then recorded the Ford Raptor traveling northbound on Highway 169 at approximately 6:04 p.m.
Investigators traced Vallejo Ortiz's cellphone traveling north toward Brooklyn Center, reaching the area where the Raptor was later recovered around 6:36 p.m.
His phone arrived near his residence at approximately 7:02 p.m.
Timeline of Events on October 3, 2026
The following timeline is based on the surveillance footage, traffic cameras, and cellphone records described in the criminal complaint. Although investigators believe the killing occurred on October 3, 2026, the complaint does not establish the precise time the victim was shot.
Investigators Discover Firearm Searches and Messages on Defendant's Phone
In addition to the location evidence, investigators reviewed internet searches and messages recovered from Vallejo Ortiz's cellphone. According to the complaint, a preliminary examination showed searches related to Glock firearms on September 28th, September 30th, October 3rd, and October 4th. Some searches specifically referenced a Glock 19, a semiautomatic pistol commonly chambered for 9mm ammunition.
Investigators also reviewed Spanish-language messages found on the device. According to the complaint, an investigative assistant used Google Translate to translate the communications.
On September 28th, Vallejo Ortiz allegedly sent a message to another individual stating, "Get me a Glock, buddy."
On October 5th, at approximately 2:27 p.m., he allegedly sent a photograph of a watch to an individual identified by the initials JGC. The photograph contained a text overlay referencing Glock firearms. Later that day, another individual identified as JVO allegedly contacted Vallejo Ortiz asking what police had told him. That individual also allegedly instructed Vallejo Ortiz to delete messages or photographs involving firearms.
The complaint does not establish whether Vallejo Ortiz actually obtained a Glock handgun or whether any firearm referenced in the messages was used in the killing. Investigators had not recovered the suspected murder weapon at the time described in the complaint.
Vallejo Ortiz Arrested October 6th Following Investigation
Based on surveillance footage, cellphone records, and other evidence collected during the investigation, Shakopee Police arrested Vallejo Ortiz on Tuesday, October 6th. Before the arrest, a Shakopee Detective contacted Vallejo Ortiz by telephone and confronted him about inconsistencies between his statements and the evidence investigators had gathered.
According to the complaint, Vallejo Ortiz could not explain the discrepancies and eventually declined to answer additional questions, saying he did not remember that day. The Shakopee Detective then asked Vallejo Ortiz to step outside his apartment so investigators could return his cellphone. When Vallejo Ortiz came outside, officers arrested him.
At the time of his arrest, Vallejo Ortiz was wearing flip-flops that investigators believed matched those visible in the Menards surveillance footage. The footwear was collected as evidence. Investigators subsequently searched both Vallejo Ortiz's apartment and his parents' apartment.
During those searches, officers recovered clothing consistent with what Vallejo Ortiz had worn in the Menards footage. They also located a Ford Raptor key inside a desk containing personal documents belonging to Vallejo Ortiz. Investigators collected the key as part of the investigation.
Court Sets $2 Million Conditional Bail
According to a release order filed October 9th in Scott County District Court, bail for Vallejo Ortiz was set at $2 million with conditions or $2.5 million without conditions. The court also imposed several restrictions if Vallejo Ortiz is released, including remaining in Minnesota unless he receives written court permission, maintaining contact with his attorney and the court, and making all required court appearances.
The order further prohibits Vallejo Ortiz from possessing or using firearms and requires him to surrender any firearms upon release. He is also prohibited from contacting the victim's family and must remain law-abiding. The court scheduled his next appearance for October 16, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. The release order identifies the proceeding as an FAP, or first appearance proceeding.
A separate firearms transfer order, also filed October 9th, directs Vallejo Ortiz to transfer any firearms he owns or possesses to an authorized recipient and requires documentation of compliance. If he does not own or possess firearms, the order requires an affidavit stating that fact. The release order establishes conditions under which Vallejo Ortiz may be released; it does not, by itself, establish that he has posted bail or been released from custody.
Second-Degree Murder Charge Carries Up to 40 Years in Prison
Vallejo Ortiz is charged with one count of second-degree intentional murder without premeditation, a felony under Minnesota law. Prosecutors allege that he intentionally caused the victim's death on October 3rd in Shakopee. If convicted, the offense carries a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The criminal complaint identifies several pieces of evidence prosecutors may rely upon, including surveillance footage showing Vallejo Ortiz with the victim shortly before the suspected killing, cellphone records placing his device near the crime scene, recovered vehicle evidence, and communications referencing firearms. However, the complaint does not identify a recovered murder weapon, establish a definitive motive, or describe an eyewitness who observed the shooting.
The allegations remain subject to further court proceedings.
Vallejo Ortiz is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. A criminal complaint is a formal charging document containing allegations and a statement of probable cause; it does not constitute a finding of guilt.
Sources: Scott County District Court, State of Minnesota v. Emilio Vallejo Ortiz; Criminal Complaint and Statement of Probable Cause, Shakopee Police Department; Order for Release, filed October 9, 2026; Firearms Transfer Order, filed October 9, 2026.
Editor's Note: This article is based on allegations contained in the criminal complaint and information documented in Scott County District Court records. Details of the investigation come from those records and have not been independently verified by Limitless Media News. The criminal proceedings remain ongoing.
Written by: Will Wight
