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Spotsylvania beating case goes to grand jury
Charges involving unprovoked attack sent to grand jury
Date published: 12/1/2005
By KEITH EPPS A 15-year-old Spotsylvania County girl testified yesterday that she had no idea what Jose D. Ramirez was saying when she walked by him Aug. 16. His subsequent actions made even less sense, according to testimony. Ramirez, 28, of Prince William County, is accused of brutally beating the girl that afternoon in what she and police say was a completely unprovoked attack. The girl suffered a broken nose, a fractured eye socket, a concussion and needed multiple stitches after the attack. She said she is still struggling with double vision and was able to return to school only a few weeks ago. Ramirez is charged with aggravated malicious wounding and abduction with the intent to defile. Judge Joseph J. Ellis sent both charges to a Spotsylvania grand jury following a preliminary hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The girl, who lives in Olde Greenwich subdivision, said she was on the way to a friend's home in the same neighborhood when she passed a home where construction work was being done. She said Ramirez, one of the workers, began talking to her but she didn't know what he was saying because she does not speak Spanish. Another witness said that Ramirez shouted a vulgar term to the girl. The girl said she ignored Ramirez and kept walking. He then ran up and grabbed her. Ramirez pushed the girl to the ground and punched her in the face several times, she testified. He then dragged her by her hair into a ditch and slammed a rock into her face several times. "I knew I had a concussion because everything was spinning, and I didn't know where I was," the girl said. The girl said Ramirez also ripped her shirt and tried to drown her by forcing her head into some water. The attack finally stopped when resident James Snyder and one of Ramirez's co-workers came to the top of the hill and called down to Ramirez. Snyder, a teacher at James Monroe High School, said he rushed to the area after hearing someone say "Stop it" and then scream. Snyder said that Ramirez ran after realizing he'd been seen. Snyder followed him and later pointed out the direction in which he ran to police. He said the girl had an eye that was swollen shut and other visible injuries. The co-worker, the third and last witness called by prosecutor Stuart Sullivan, testified through a translator that Ramirez had been working with him only a few days and had not exhibited any unusual behavior before that day. Defense attorney Allen Bareford didn't put on any witnesses, but argued that the abduction with the intent to defile charge should be reduced because there was no evidence that Ramirez was trying to sexually assault the girl. To reach KEITH EPPS:
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 12/1/2005
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