Opening statements begin for 2022 Christmas capital murder trial
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — After a jury was selected Friday, opening statements started Monday in a capital murder trial for a man accused of killing his aunt and girlfriend on Christmas in 2022.
Police said both alleged murders happened in separate locations.
That day, El Paso Police went to a house on Truman Avenue in Central El Paso after a woman told 911 she was stabbed.
Authorities found 79-year-old Irma Ramirez with stab wounds all over her body. She went to the hospital and later died.
Crimes Against Persons investigated and secured an arrest warrant for Gabriel Antonio Ramirez. They found him bleeding from cuts to his neck and wrists in the front yard of a house. He was taken to a hospital nearby for treatment.
During the investigation, detectives discovered he allegedly stole his aunt’s SUV from the murder scene and drove to West El Paso. Investigators said a witness saw Ramirez covered in blood and using a garden hose.
In his aunt’s SUV, detectives found the body of 24-year-old Kathia Rosales, Ramirez’ girlfriend.
Ramirez was released from the hospital Dec. 31, 2022, and arrested. He was charged with capital murder on a $1.5 million bond.
The prosecution played the 911 made by Ramirez’ aunt which sounded as if she was being attacked while on the phone with police dispatch before calling one of the officers, Edward Shurkitt, testified to describe what the crime scene was like.
Shurkitt described seeing drops of blood around the outside of the house before knocking on the front door waiting for an answer while his partner went to the carport on the side of the house while Shurkitt kept knocking to see if anyone was home.
After there was no response and the officers notices more drops of blood using their flashlights leading to the door Shurkitt’s partner was at which was when he said he pulled out his gun as they started trying to look through the windows to see if anyone was inside.
Shurkitt said curtains were blocking most of the windows but when he was able to get a look inside through a small opening by the house’s carport he thought he saw a foot which to him gave them permission to come inside the house as an emergency situation.
Both officers came in through the door attached to the kitchen where they saw blood and during cross when Shurkitt admitted he felt scared in the moment.
This was when Shurkitt said him and his partner looked through the house room by room looking for anybody hiding or anyone who needed help calling out to anyone in the house but still didn’t hear anything until they found a woman’s body laying face up in the living room by the front door who turned out to be Irma Ramirez.
Shurkitt said he checked for a pulse after seeing the stab wounds in her chest and the body holding a shite trash bag in its left hand but after seeing ‘no signs of life’ he focused on preserving the crime scene and where he eventually said he found the weapon, a large kitchen knife with blood on it and even a roll of toilet paper with blood one it.
Throughout Shurkitt’s testimony, prosecutors showed the courtroom the states pictures of the house as he continued in an effort to show what he was talking about whcih showed the blood drops on the outside of the house in the carport and in the house’s patio area as well as the blood in the house’s interior.
The court saw evidence photos of the body and of the knife’s tip with blood on it as well as the handle and even a picture of the blood stain left by the body with what looked like a puddle of vomit next to the blood stain.
The Degree to which the house was covered in blood was truly shown when camera footage slowly going around then through the house showed blood even on the white Toyota Corolla in the carport and even all over both doors and knobs including the screen door before showing blood in almost every room of the house and even on the walls of the main hallway.
Upon cross examination, the defense made it a point to explain their issues with the police response beginning with the unit taking almost 40 minutes to get to the scene which they said showed they ‘weren’t in a rush’ to get there and even taking an issue with the radio playing music in the squad car.
Shurkitt even admitted they initially went to a 3728 address but on the wrong street, Harrison Avenue, about four blocks from the actual house on Truman Avenue and when reviewing the dash cam footage the defense felt the officers were ‘too relaxed’ in the way they approached the house which Shurkitt admitted they were not in hurry to get into the home because it wasn’t considered an emergency situation just yet.
Another issue of the defense was what they considered ‘sloppy work’ at the crime scene like one photo of the knife with the officers boots clearly in the frame and even not wearing gloves immediately after coming into the house.
Something Shurkitt defended on the stand saying he was more concerned with getting to anyone inside that needed help.
Something the defense made a point to do were numerous objections on the matter of hearsay whenever Shurkitt mentioned something his partner told him or heard his partner say which became so frequent from the defense team both sides were called to the bench multiple times before court let out.
This is a developing story.
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