Juan Angel Ramirez stared at the floor in an El Paso courtroom as the family of the man he was convicted of killing sat feet away crying, telling him how he destroyed their family.
Ramirez was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after being convicted of fatally shooting Juan Carlos Castro Jr. during a fight outside Ramirez's house on Paseo Alegre Drive in April 2021.
"For three years, since April 25th, 2021, I would think about what I was going to tell you, what you took away from us, what you have done to us," Castro's mother Rosa Gardea said in her victim impact statement. "He was a loving son, a loving brother, a loving uncle and a loving father. A loving father that you took away from his children."
Gardea was one of several Castro family members who spoke during victim impact statements Monday, Aug. 26, after Ramirez was officially sentenced for committing murder "under influence of sudden passion."
"You took him away from all of us," Gardea said. "But you go on living in two years, right? Your mother gets to hold you. You get to have children. You get to know the love of being a father, right?
"My granddaughter is going to have her quinceanera, but she's not going to have a father and daughter dance. It's gonna be a chair, an empty chair with his picture there."
Castro family members talked about their anger that Ramirez will only serve two years and six month in prison for killing their loved one.
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"I am angry for what you did," Gardea said. "I hope my son haunts you every single day of your life for what you did, for what you did to my family."
Ramirez, wearing a gray suit and tie, sat in the jury box with his attorneys as Castro's family took the witness stand one after another to give their victim impact statements.
"I can't breathe without my sunlight," Gardea said about losing her son. "My world is freaking gray. You took everything we did together, our holidays, all that is gone because of your selfishness. Look at my family's faces. Look at my family's faces."
El Paso jury convicts, sentences Ramirez to prison
On Aug. 20, after a trial that lasted more than a week, an El Paso jury convicted Ramirez of murder under influence of sudden passion, court records show.
Judge Alyssa Perez officially sentenced Ramirez Monday, Aug. 26, in the 210th District Court at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.
Ramirez was originally facing one count of murder, which holds a sentencing range of five years to 99 years or life in prison. However, a jury determined the killing was committed "under influence of sudden passion" that lowered the sentencing range from two to 20 years in prison.
Ramirez and his attorneys argued he acted in self-defense when he shot Castro April 25, 2021, during an argument at his home in the 12300 block of Paseo Alegre Drive. Castro was the ex-boyfriend of Ramirez's girlfriend.
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"We are relieved for Juan and his family, especially given that he was looking at the possibility of serving up to 99 years/life in prison," Ramirez's attorney Denise Butterworth said. "Juan has always maintained that he acted in self-defense — he was not the first aggressor and was severely injured by Mr. Castro. I am grateful that the jury listened carefully to the evidence presented, and by their verdict, recognized the extraordinary circumstances in which this shooting occurred."
El Paso County District Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment. The case was tried by Assistant District Attorneys Rick Locke and Raooa King.
Argument over cellphone, mass fight leads to fatal shooting
The fatal shooting happened about 2:50 a.m Sunday, April 25, 2021, after Ramirez and his girlfriend had gone to a bar earlier in the evening.
The couple returned to their home in the 12300 block of Paseo Alegre Drive when they began arguing, a complaint affidavit states. The couple was arguing because Ramirez's girlfriend took her cellphone into the restroom with her.
The girlfriend then walked out of the home with Ramirez following as the argument continued. As the couple were arguing outside the home, people at a nearby house party began yelling at Ramirez to stop fighting with his girlfriend, the affidavit states.
The partygoers confronted Ramirez and a fight erupted, the affidavit states. Ramirez's girlfriend called Castro, an ex-boyfriend and father to her child, to come get her. Castro arrived and he and Ramirez began fighting, witnesses told police.
The affidavit states six to seven of the partygoers, some armed with sticks and clubs, began fighting with Ramirez on Paseo Alegre Drive. Ramirez was able to escape and entered his home. He grabbed a handgun and fired three to four shots through the front door, witnesses told police.
Investigators found bullet casings at the doorway of Ramirez's home and on the street two houses away, where Castro was found on the ground by officers. A witness claimed to have seen Ramirez pistol-whipping Castro as he laid on the ground, the affidavit states.
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Officers found a broken pistol trigger guard. Blood splatter was on a white vehicle next to Castro's body, the affidavit states. Castro was shot multiple times, the affidavit states. He was taken to Del Sol Medical Center, where he later died.
Ramirez fled before officers arrived. He contacted his mother and met her about a half-mile away on Saint Jude Avenue to talk about surrendering, the affidavit states.
He was with his mother and two sisters when he surrendered to police in the parking lot of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Catholic Church, 12200 Vista Del Sol Blvd., the affidavit states. The pistol used in the shooting was in his sister's truck. The pistol had blood and was missing the trigger guard and magazine plate, the affidavit states.
Ramirez told his mother that he had possibly shot someone, police wrote in the affidavit. He also told his sisters that he had messed up, gotten in a fight and did something he shouldn't have done without saying what he did, the affidavit states.
He was hospitalized for his injuries, but was arrested on suspicion of murder after being released from the hospital.
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 'I can't breathe without my sunlight': Mother addresses man convicted of killing son
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