Emiliano Charles Montero always wanted to know how things worked. He could take anything apart and put it back together, and he enjoyed tinkering on cars the most.
He pictured himself opening his own garage one day in the suburbs. After briefly living in Philadelphia when Emiliano was a baby, his mother, Jessica Ortiz, raised him and his two younger sisters in Bristol, Bucks County, “and I did whatever I could to not come back,” she said.
Last month, Jessica, Emiliano and the girls decided to move to Far Northeast Philadelphia, but they needed a temporary living space until their new home was ready. They moved in with Jessica’s friend at 23rd and Moore in Point Breeze on Feb. 9 and planned to stay two weeks.
On the night of Feb. 12, 2021, Jessica was at work when she got an alert from the Citizen app about a shooting on the block where they were staying. She sent it to Emiliano, asking if he knew anything about it, not realizing the alert was about him.
That night, Emiliano was fatally shot outside of his temporary home in an apparent robbery attempt. Police have not yet made any arrests.
“We were only in the city for three days,” Jessica said. “Everything I feared came true in such a short time.”
She added: “The choice that person made has not only destroyed my family but their own family too when they hopefully have to answer for what they did. That family will lose, too. It makes no sense.”
Emiliano was born to Jessica and his father, Jason Montero, on April 18, 1997. Jessica was 19 when she had Emiliano, and they grew up together.
“Everything you do is for this little person, and they come first,” she said. “It’s something I was very happy about.”
Emiliano attended schools in the Bensalem Township School District, and science was his favorite subject. He was in the gifted program at Snyder-Girotti Elementary School, and in his space time, he’d prefer to watch the Discovery Channel over cartoons.
He embraced his role as a big brother and he was protective of his sisters. Jessica described an incident that happened when Emiliano was 12 and his sister Nina was 4. He was helping her ride a skateboard when she fell and knocked a tooth out. Emiliano took control, cleaned her up and remained calm.
“Emiliano was a great person,” Nina said. “As I’m his little sister, he would always tell me to not worry about anything and don’t stress about adult things and to just have fun being a teenager. He definitely is not gonna be forgotten.”
Emiliano wanted to further his education, but he was hesitant to take on student loan debt, so he taught himself all he could about cars. He was young, and he was still in the process of figuring out what he wanted his future to look like.
But instead of supporting him in achieving his goals, Jessica is determined to make sure his killer is found and Emiliano isn’t forgotten.
“He was the sweetest, most caring individual,” Jessica said, adding that he would have been a great father if he had the opportunity.
“He would do anything for anyone. He was the smartest young person I’ve ever encountered — he knew about everything. I thought he’d be able to make the world a better place.”
A reward of up to $20,000 if available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Emiliano’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
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