A Look at the Real Life Case That Inspired Lifetime's "Nobody Dumps My Daughter"

The true crime gems from Lifetime in 2024 have been quite delicious, mainly because of the stories used in the films, as well as the casting. The casting in these pieces have given me hope for potential villainess casting in future thrillers, but more on that later. Let's get to the topic of this story, a recent Lifetime true crime retelling that I had been looking forward to for several months: Nobody Dumps My Daughter.

This film retells a stunning true crime tale that I didn't know about until I did my homework regarding this film. The film takes place in the early 90s, and they stayed true to that part of the story at least. But here's the actual tale, and the real life villainess of this story:

This was the only pic I could find, but that woman is Dora Garcia Cisneros. Her daughter, Cristina, was involved in a relationship with Joey Fischer, one of her schoolmates, and it was a pretty close relationship according to many. The couple even engaged in a sexual tryst at some point, but by June of 1992, the relationship ended, and it was Joey who ended it. Dora didn't take the news well, especially after learning that their relationship was actually sexual. Dora made many attempts to force Joey into getting back with her daughter, but to no avail. She even resorted to meeting with Joey's father, Buddy Fischer, and coercing him to talk his son in to getting back with Cristina.

When that failed, Dora visited Maria Mercedes Martinez, a fortune teller who she met with frequently, and vented about Joey. She even asked Maria if she could place a curse on Joey for breaking up with Cristina, and while Maria said that while she couldn't do so, she could have Joey beaten up. Dora decided to go one step further: have Joey killed. Dora was willing to offer $3,000 for Joey's murder, and that started one hell of a chain reaction. Dora gave the money (and a picture of Joey) to Maria, who then gave the money and pic to one of her clients, Daniel Orlando Garza, to carry out the plan. Garza enlisted a pair of hitmen to fulfill the plot, and on March 3, 1993, those same hitmen appeared at Joey's that morning and shot him to death.

The investigation resulted in another chain reaction. The first domino to fall was Garza, he was interrogated four weeks after the murder and confessed to being the middleman in the plot. He agreed to wear a wire and catch Maria, and after that, she did the same in order to catch the true mastermind: Dora. Dora was finally arrested in April of 1993, and a year later, she was sentenced to life in prison for plotting Joey's murder.

On October 12, 2024, Lifetime aired the aforementioned film based on the tale, Nobody Dumps My Daughter. The names were changed, and regarding the cast, the film starred Ana Ortiz as Mary Ramirez (based on the villainous Dora Cisneros). While the name was different, many true aspects remained, with one of them being Mary's obsessive nature when it came to daughter Theresa (based on Cristina Cisneros), and how losing her son led to this demeanor. The cast also included music legend Sheila E. as fortune teller Anna (based on Maria Mercedes Martinez), so I got to see Ana Ortiz and Sheila E. as villainesses on Lifetime. Very very epic!!

Regarding Ortiz, I knew she'd nail this role, and I was right on the money. Ortiz nailed Mary's insanity and ruthless nature to absolute perfection, especially in a) the moment where she meets with Jimmy's (based on Joey Fischer) father, and that last scene where she voiced her lack of remorse for her evil actions. This isn't the first time that Ana Ortiz has played a real life villainess in a Lifetime true crime film. In 2008, Ortiz appeared in Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story, working alongside her future Devious Maids co-star, Judy Reyes, in the film. Here's hoping Ana Ortiz plays a villainess in a fictional Lifetime thriller; that really needs to happen.

This true crime story was absolutely wild and crazy. It reminds me of the Mother Knows Best tale (and the movie that came out as a result), but in this story, the mother wanted the boyfriend offed for leaving her daughter. Dora Cisneros was absolutely unhinged and obsessed as hell; she had to be to resort to carrying out such a horrific crime. Lifetime's retelling of this tale was also terrific, and while there are still some "women who kill" tales that Lifetime still needs to tackle, at least they took on quite a deliciously insane story with this film.