Posted on 06/03/2025 8:56:03 AM PDT by TheDon
A man has been acquitted of murder in a deadly shooting near downtown Grand Rapids a year ago.
Xavier Ramos of Grand Rapids stood trial last week on charges of open murder and felony firearms in the death of Eliot Flores. Late Friday afternoon, jurors returned a verdict of not guilty. Ramos has since been released from jail.
Flores was shot in the early hours of June 2, 2024, near the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Cherry Street SW and died at the scene. Ramos claimed self-defense.
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(Excerpt) Read more at woodtv.com ...
"Police say Morgan and both Ramos brothers had concealed pistol licenses."
Also:
“But charges were filed in Flores’ death because he was unarmed and was shot three times in the back while running away and seeking cover, police said.”
Not a good look but must have been some compelling evidence why it was self defense.
Yes, Ramos had good defense counsel.
Just because they’re ’running away’ doesn’t mean they’ve stopped being a threat.
Maybe Flores was heard saying, as he turned to run, “I fart in your direction”. /S
Sometimes people (the defender) is overwhelmed mentally and the brain goes to survival mode. It may take a whack upside the head to get them back into conscious thinking mode.
There is the story (true, myth, legend, who knows) of the trial attorney asking grandma “Why did you shoot the attacker with the revolver six times?”. Grandma replies “Because when I pulled the trigger the seventh time, the gun just went click.”
“Sheriff, Why did you shoot the man six times?”
“I ran out of bullets.”................
“He turned his back to me just as I fired...your honor.”
“”” intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue “””
Never a good place to be in any city. Same as Martin Luther King Drive.
“ Just because they’re ’running away’ doesn’t mean they’ve stopped being a threat.”
Most places have an “imminent threat” requirement for self defense, and shooting a guy that’s running away is murder.
“Rachel Van Gilder”
Nice to see some Dutch left in GR.
CC
If you find yourself at the corner of Cesar Chavez and MLK, run.
CC
St Paul renamed a section of Concord Street to Cezar Chavez st. where it runs through Little Mexico. MLK street is farther north. Worked in both areas. Not good.
It was a 2 on 2 fight and Ramos might not have known the guy was unarmed. Details at the linked article. The other Ramos brother and one of the “victims” were already hit, bullets flying, pretty high stress situation. His assumption was probably “he’s seeking cover to continue shooting at us”.
I agree that the street names are certainly red flags if you are in a new, unfamiliar city.
In 2003, I was creating a door to door routing application. I had both Microsoft and Webraska backend services to do the turn by turn parts. One weekend I stayed over on a business trip in Fairborne, OH and decided to pay a visit to my dad's alma mater in Oxford, OH. It was new, unfamiliar territory. The directions I had took my right into a very sketchy part of town. Upon return, I suggested to my boss that a "feature" that includes "avoids" for sketchy neighborhoods would be a plus. Unfortunately, it would not be "PC" to do so.
Agreed. But these guys had Michigan CPLs and they received training on using deadly force. It makes the bar for proving self defense a bit higher. While ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse I’m sure the prosecutor made the jury well aware of the fact these guys had CPLs.
There certainly are still Dutch in GR and West Michigan as a whole. Mostly wholesome folk contributing to the pink electoral shading of the area. That being said, owning a business in the area is a challenge if you like to make a profit.
Maybe it’s jury nullification because juries are sick of the crime spree enabled by liberal DA’s?
Or maybe, it’s black fatigue?
Ok, still doesn’t change anything. How do you know when the threat isn’t still imminent? Certainly not bc the threat is ‘retreating’. A good lawyer will successfully argue this. Also if you assume a retreat is the end of the fight then you may well wind up dead.
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