PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Ralph Varela Sr. turned the home they once shared into a killing field Saturday night, and the whole block felt it the next morning. He used an AR-style .223-caliber rifle on his longtime partner, Elizabeth “Liz” Ortega, 50, who had just finished her shift as a dispatcher with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. What started as a quiet evening turned lethal in the 2000 block of SE Oxmoor Terrace.
Ortega was off duty when the 911 calls poured in around 7:40 p.m. She and Varela, also 50, had been living together with their adult son, but they were separating. The kid left about 7:30 p.m. to grab dinner, thinking everything was fine. Varela grabbed the gun instead.
Surveillance video later showed the whole thing. Ortega bolted for the front yard, trying to run, while Varela kept firing. She dropped in the yard, hit multiple times. He went back inside and ended it with a shot to his own head. He was found dead in the residence.
Port St. Lucie police airlifted Ortega to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. Doctors tried everything, but she died there. The sheriff’s office called her a “respected and cherished part of our PBSO family,” the kind of woman whose warm smile lit up every room she walked into.
She had started with the Greenacres Police Department back in November 2001 and joined PBSO after the 2016 merger. Her son, Ralph Varela Jr., is a firefighter with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. The agency asked people to keep both the departments and the family in their thoughts while funeral plans are set.
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