Tag Archive for: 2024 Citizens of Courage

Citizens of Courage Natalie Ortiz and her two daughters Rachel and Sophie Martinez pose for a family photo with the two younger siblings outside Rady Children's Hospital.

Citizens of Courage 2024: Natalie, Rachel and Sophie

Our final 2024 Citizens of Courage are a mother and her two young daughters who survived an attempted murder by someone they trusted to look out for them. When everyone in the household was asleep, Natalie Ortiz’s boyfriend and the father-figure to her two daughters, Rachel and Sophie, attempted to kill all three of them. But he did not count on their survival instincts and their will to live. Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Lorens prosecuted this case.

Citizen of Courage 2024: Tiffany Murphy

Being a security guard is not easy and is often a dangerous job. Our next 2024 Citizens of Courage was working as an unarmed security guard for an apartment building in Downtown San Diego. On the night of the incident, a woman visiting one of the residents of the apartment building was brutally stabbed but managed to escape. When the attacker came after her, Security Guard Tiffany Murphy put herself between the stabber and the victim, endangering her own life but ultimately saving the victim and helping law enforcement arrest the attacker. Deputy District Attorney Yoni Fraenkel prosecuted this case.