Woman Dies in San Juan; Will Her Family Be Charged?
Keidi Ramirez
A woman is dead and tonight her relatives are in police custody. On Tuesday evening around four-thirty, Keidi Ramirez, a resident of San Juan Village along the Southern Highway, was socializing and drinking with family members when she had to be restrained. Four hours later, she was pronounced dead at the Independence Polyclinic. Police have shared few details about what led to Ramirez’s death – they would only say that Ramirez’s body bore visible marks to the hands, feet and neck– reportedly from being tied up following an argument. Today, News Five’s Andrea Polanco went south to find out what happened to Keidi Ramirez. Relatives in the village refused to comment – but there we found out that Ramirez was a troubled woman who drowned her issues in alcohol. Here’s that story.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
The death of twenty-six-year-old Honduran national Keidi Ramirez sent shockwaves acrossthe quiet community of San Juan on Tuesday night. But perhaps what has left most in shock is that her family members are now detained for her death. Today, there are more questions than answers in the village. But perhaps there were signs all along that Keidi Ramirez needed help. By all accounts she had struggled with alcoholism – and inside this home, the effects of the excessive drinking would play out. Chairman Carlos Peraza, who also happens to be Ramirez’s former employer, has witnessed the family violence firsthand.
Carlos Peraza, Chairman, San Juan Village
“It is very sad to hear. I know that the family was going through some hard times. I understand they were drinking heavily – everybody was involved, nuh, drinking and the tragedy just happened. We don’t know and we can’t explain.”
Andrea Polanco
“Did you ever receive any report about disturbance at that house before? Any noise – any fights?”
Carlos Peraza
“Yes. We have had many, many incidents. This girl, she was working on one of the farms that I am managing and a few months ago she just stopped and got into heavy drinking. I know she lost her family. She has a husband and they went to court fighting for the kid and it has been just so sad that they couldn’t be together.”
Andrea Polanco
“So, she was going through a lot of personal – domestic issues?”
Carlos Peraza
“Definitely. Definitely. I personally saw some incidents and we tried to attend to some and I know police tried to intervene many times but once there is no direct investigation into what’s happening in the family, we can’t do much than what they permit us to do.”
And so on Tuesday, hours before she died, police say Ramirez was socializing with family members at her house. Neighbours reported that there was heavy drinking – when an argument erupted – the nature of that dispute is not clear. But what we do know is that others at the residence tied up Ramirez to control her when she got into a drunken fit. And in a matter of hours she was dead.
Joseph Myvett
ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch
“She was at home, along with other family members on the said date sometime around four-thirty p.m., when they were socializing and eventually they ended up in a dispute. As a result she was restrained by those whom she was socializing with and at some point she was seen to be unresponsive and as a result she was transported to the Independence Polyclinic, where she was later pronounced dead.”
Chairman Peraza has known the family for about ten years since he relocated to San Juan. He says the signs that there was something wrong in the family home started showing months ago – but Ramirez herself has had a long battle with the bottle. He says there were regular disputes at the residence and they tried to help – but those calls of disturbance would end here at the village police station.
Carlos Peraza
Carlos Peraza
“They have been fighting, arguing, crying over one another. And it just happened that we never thought it would happen like that. We did hear rumors that she had some real problems with the drinking and she couldn’t stop drinking. I understand that she was tied up at some point but we are not sure about it as well. I know that we – the outsiders, the police, can only intervene to a certain point and if from there the family is protecting one another, we can’t do better than that.”
Andrea Polanco
“So, they never really gave an official report – or pressed charges?”
Carlos Peraza
“No. Many times the reports would just go to the local police officer in the village and that is the farthest it reached. They were never taken into custody and stuff like that.”
But today it’s different – Ramirez is dead and her parents and a sister are in custody.
ACP Joseph Myvett
“So far police have three persons in custody from whom statements have been recorded from. Those statements have been forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution for which we are awaiting her directive in order for us to proceed further with the investigation.”
Reporter
“Sir, we understand those persons are her relatives?”
ACP Joseph Myvett
“Yes they are.”
Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
