19-year-old fatally shot near his Los Angeles home after dropping sister off at work, family says
The heartbroken family of a man who was shot to death in Boyle Heights earlier this week has identified the victim as a teenager who was returning home from dropping his sister off at work.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told KTLA that the shooting occurred around midnight on Wednesday in the 500 block of South Grande Vista Avenue near Lanfranco Street.
When officers arrived at the scene, they located a man inside a Kia Soul who had sustained gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
While police did not release the victim’s identity, his family identified him as 19-year-old Jason Alexander Ramirez.
Jason’s brother Angel told KTLA that he was coming back from dropping his sister off at work and was just a few houses down from his own residence when he was shot.
Angel says that witness accounts and surveillance footage indicate that four teenaged male suspects were “lurking” in the vicinity of Jason’s home at the time he arrived in the area.
“The alleged suspects were looking for a rival gang member and when they came across Jason, they mistook him as a member and plotted to take his life,” Angel said. “One of the four suspects walked into the street and acted as if in distress to lure Jason to stop his vehicle, while the other three suspects hid behind cars.”
“When Jason least expected it, while helpless and indefensible, he was ambushed in cold blood,” he continued, emphasizing that he and others close to the family believe the senseless tragedy was part of a gang initiation process involving someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
One suspect was detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, but the other three remain outstanding as of Sunday afternoon. Officers continue to investigate, but Angel hopes someone with information can come forward and help his aching family find justice.
“While trying to help someone who he thought was in need, he was unfairly attacked,” Angel said. “Jason truly was a prime example of how one should love his fellow man.”
“His actions that night showed the love in his heart, and he will be remembered for an eternity,” he added.
Anyone with information surrounding the fatal shooting of Jason Alexander Ramirez is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
