After confronting young drug dealers who had supposedly just sold her kids marijuana, an Oakland mother-of-eight was viciously murdered.
On August 7, as Maria Ramos, 33, and her eight children were visiting her mother Blanca Velasco, two of her children were allegedly contacted by well-known drug dealers who offered to sell them marijuana pipes.
Then, in response to their repeated visits to her home, Ramos and Velasco made the decision to follow the blue Toyota vehicle, as reported by KTVU.
The suspects can be seen halting at a crossroads in surveillance footage that the TV station was able to obtain. One of the passengers exited the vehicle and fired more shots at her as Ramos, who had previously battled substance abuse, stepped out of the passenger side and started shooting at her.
A short while later, Velasco was also observed leaving the area in the SUV.
She described how she believed her daughter to be merely hiding.
I just saw her taking off and I just heard the bang,’ Velasco told NBC Bay Area.
‘And then I pressed on the gas to put my car in front of their car to shield my daughter,’ she said. ‘I saw my daughter going down, but I thought my daughter was taking cover.’
The adolescent guy was half leaning out the window and pointing a gun at her when she looked into the rear seat of the Toyota, she told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“I ran to her and left my car there.” Velasco remarked, “I was holding her in my arms.”
“Breathe,” I encouraged her as I began to rub her after seeing all the blood pour out. You are still needed by us. You are still needed by eight children.”
“She was breathing through her nose and moving slowly when the police arrived.”
When officers from Oakland arrived at 2:30 p.m., they discovered Ramos had sustained at least one gunshot wound.
Despite their best efforts, Ramos was declared dead at the site.
Following their efforts to locate the suspects’ car, officers apprehended three suspects, two children, and 19-year-old Isaiah Gomez.
Police are looking into whether Ramos may have sprayed pepper spray at the suspects before they fired, but they currently believe the 16-year-old who shot Ramos was the one who fired. The 16-year-old is being held at Alameda County Juvenile Hall.
Meanwhile, Gomez was taken into custody and interrogated by the police; nevertheless, at a Friday hearing, he entered a not guilty plea, as reported by the Chronicle.
Since then, he was freed and given an ankle monitor.
“I’m upset that my daughter isn’t returning home,” Velasco said to KPIX. “Why was he allowed to return home?”
She expressed concern that Pamela Price, the city’s progressive district attorney, may not bring charges against her daughter’s killer on an adult level. November will see a recall election for Price due to her lax enforcement of the law.
“You’re big enough to pay the price if you were big enough to get a gun and kill somebody.”
Currently left to look for her grandchildren, Velasco said she finds it difficult to explain what occurred to the younger ones.
She said the 15, 13 and 11 year olds ‘know that mom is gone’.
Velasco said: ‘The other five, I haven’t had the courage to tell them.’ She said her five-year-old granddaughter is still waiting for her mom to come home.
‘She says, “I her mommy is dead, but she’s still coming back from the hospital, right grandma?”‘ Velasco shared.
‘I would be like, “Yeah,” because I don’t know how to tell her she’s not coming back.
