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

May 21, 2024

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.