LOS ANGELES—On February 7, detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Homicide Bureau held a press conference announcing a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individuals responsible for the murder of 16-year-old Ricardo Trujillo Ramirez.
According to the LASD, the Los Angeles County Supervisor, Holly Mitchell, sponsored the first $10K. U.S. Cadet Corps Colonel Jack E. Thomas III added an additional $5,000 to the reward.
On September 24m at approximately 11:15 p.m. Ramirez and his friends were leaving a party near the 1900 block of Pine Street in Compton when they were confronted by several individuals, where a fight broke out between the two groups.
One of the suspects banished a gun and shot Ramirez in the torso. First responders attempted to save the teen’s life, but he died at the scene.
Ramirez was a junior at Narbonne High School in Harbor City. He was a member of the ROTC program at NHS. Ramirez planned on joining the United States Air Force and becoming a drone pilot. The child’s mother, Norma Ramirez, shared her grief with those present.
“It’s not easy to get up every morning knowing that he is no longer here because one person decided to take his life. I demand justice because my life is pointless without him. I am asking people to help. Even the littlest of information may be of great help to them. He wanted to join the army for four years and after that four years he wanted to be part of the DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] ‘I want to be a police officer. I want to be someone big because I have the instinct of helping people and I want you to be proud of me.’ Although he didn’t accomplish any of that, I’m always and will always be proud of him. On October the 8th, he was going to receive an award for his eight years as a cadet in the Army.”
