Guatemalan National Killed in Los Tambos
Manuel Ramos
There were three murders that marred the Independence weekend. At the start of the holidays, Leslie Logan Junior was murdered in Orange Walk Town on Friday at the start of the holiday weekend. His murder was followed by another in the City on Saturday night which we will have coming up. And on Independence Day itself, a Guatemalan national was callously murdered in the west. A resident of Los Tambos in the Cayo District was gunned down just after midday on Sunday. Twenty-seven year old Manuel Ramos was at home with his common-law-wife, Albaluz Moralez, when an unidentified shooter opened fire on them. Ramos was hit in the chest and died instantly, while Moralez was hit in the leg by a bullet which passed through his body. Police are looking for a motive and a murderer at this time, but there are few details at this point as nobody has identified the shooter. Our News Five team travelled to Los Tambos today and Mike Rudon has the story.
Mike Rudon, Reporting
Manuel Ramos and his common-law-wife Albaluz were relaxing outside the home they shared when shots rang out from the vicinity of the bushes near the school next door to their home. Ramos was hit twice, once to the chest and once to the arm. The bullet to his arm passed through his body and hit Albaluz on her leg.
Insp. Reymundo Reyes, Deputy Commander, San Ignacio Police Formation
Reymundo Reyes
“On arrival at the residence of one Mister Manuel Ramos, they saw his motionless body lying on his stomach in a pool of blood. Information is that his wife was also injured and she had been transported to the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan. On inspection of his body, police saw what is believed to be a gunshot wound on the center of his chest and a wound which appeared to be that of a gunshot wound on his right arm. The scene was processed and his body was later transported to the San Ignacio Hospital where it was pronounced dead on arrival.”
Manuel’s cousin Karina lives next door to him. She was giving her kids lunch when she heard three shots. By the time she ran outside he was already on the ground dead.
Karina Aguilar, Cousin/Neighbour of Manuel Ramos
“I just watched by the fence and the other persons said that he is dead already because he was dead already.”
Karina Aguilar
Mike Rudon
“There were a lot of people there or only he and the woman at home?”
Karina Aguilar
“Bunch of people here when somebody heard the shots—not only me hear the shots, but a lot of the persons here and then everybody come and see. His wife keep saying that he is not dead, but somebody came and see that he is dead already. The ambulance come in search with her because she had a shot on the leg and then somebody take her by the ambulance and just today she come back and she okay too.”
Expended shells of the type used in a hunting rifle were found some distance away, and Police are hoping a ballistics test will provide some answers in what is a puzzling murder with no obvious motive.
Insp. Reymundo Reyes
“At this moment, the case is being looked at. Police have canvassed the area and about a hundred and seventy-five yards away in a bushy area, a trap was found where five expended five point five-six shells were found, but we still have to send that to the laboratory for analysis. In respect to the lady, it is believe that the slug is still in her leg. So once that is retrieved, we can do comparison and see whether the expended shells found correspond to the slug, or they are of the same weapon.”
Albaluz Moralez had lived with Manuel Ramos in this home for just over two years. Today she was at home with her family recovering from the wound to her leg. She was obviously distraught, and has no clue who would have wanted Manuel dead.
Albaluz Moralez
Albaluz Moralez, Common-law Wife of Murder Victim
“At first, they shot at us three times, but none of the bullets hit us. The next two shots hit him. He just said “Ay.” When he said “Ay!” the bullet came out of his back and hit me on my leg. He fell on the ground and I got on top of him asking him to say something. But he didn’t say anything.”
Today the family of Manuel Ramos was preparing to lay their loved one to rest. They share the grief felt by Albaluz, but that is where any sympathy ends. They blame her for the murder, if only because they disapproved of the relationship she had with their son.
Albaluz Moralez
“I’m not at my house because his family threatened me and my son. They said that they were going to kill us. Just because he was living with me, since they don’t like me.”
By all accounts Ramos was a quiet man who had no enemies…at least none that his family or common-law wife can point to. But he obviously did have at least one – the shooter who took his life on Sunday. Mike Rudon for News Five.
