Jorge Ramirez’s family didn’t rest until the truth came out
“This is one of the strongest projects I’ve ever been involved with,” said executive producer Colin Kaepernick in front of Hulu’s Killing County trailer. Alongside ABC News Studios, Colin brings a tragic tale of murder, a police cover-up, and a family’s determination to uncover the truth.
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In September 2013, 34-year-old Jorge Ramirez was shot dead by police during a sting operation. The father of the five children was an informant, but not a story the authorities would later pitch to the media.
Ramirez has certainly made some mistakes in the past, but he was trying to do the right thing the night he was killed. May there be people in our lives as brave and dedicated as Jorge Ramirez’s family.
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What happened to Jorge Ramirez? his family wanted to know.
According to Bakersfield.com, some pretty important facts were missing from the police retelling of the events surrounding Jorge Ramirez’s death. The outlet has assembled a timeline of the last ten hours of Ramirez’s life, much of which was conveniently buried by authorities.
This all started when Ramirez was offered a deal by the police. Police asked him to become an informant in exchange for postponing the date of a pending drug trial. At the time, Ramirez was friendly with a man named Justin Harger, a wanted criminal. The plan was for Ramirez to get Harger to agree to meet him at a casual hangout. Unfortunately, things turned fatal for both.
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On the night of the shooting, Ramirez communicated multiple times with his “handler”, Officer Lely Esparza. Esparza was off duty, but he spent the night relaying a message from Ramirez to the officer in charge of the case. There are some discrepancies in later reports about what ultimately happened, but one throughline states that officials did not know Ramirez was the informant, and that his explanation was not given. rice field.
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Initially, Harger met Ramirez at his home, but police did not set up surveillance there. Ramirez and Harger then stopped at a gas station in Arco, but again the police did not pick up Harger.
Ramirez and Harger finally arrived at the Four Points by Sheraton around 12:43 am. Police surrounded the van as the two pulled into the parking lot. Confusion ensued as they thought Harger was in the passenger seat, but he claimed he was actually driving. As Ramirez tried to escape, he was shot multiple times, assuming authorities knew he was an informant. Again, police at the scene claimed that there was no explanation for Ramirez and that he had not been informed that he was working with them. It was hidden by the police for several weeks.
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Jorge Ramirez’s family exposes Bakersfield police corruption.
Killing County doesn’t stop at the death of Jorge Ramirez. A pattern of violence within the Bakersfield Police Department became apparent as his family was keen to tell his son’s story. Their families weren’t the only ones who lost someone in a police-involved shooting.
Unfortunately, Ramirez never signed the papers naming him as an informant. However, it was eventually discovered that not only was Ramirez working with the police, but two detectives (Díaz and Mara) were involved in illegal activities.
“In October 2016, Diaz and Mara were charged with using their positions as police officers to steal methamphetamine and marijuana that they had seized while on duty and using a third party to bring the drugs back onto the streets for profit. Each was sentenced to five years in prison.”From their sales”, via KGET. This set the Bakersfield Police Department at a disadvantage, but it was just the beginning.
For more on this incredibly moving story, stream Killing County on Hulu starting Friday, February 3rd.