Michael Ramos, a 21-year-old Hispanic man, was fatally shot on October 23, 2020, in Apopka, Florida, during an attempted home-invasion robbery at his cousin’s house on South Lake Pleasant Road. Ramos and two accomplices, S’Mandre Law and Ja-ven Washington, planned to take $10,000 in cash from the cousin. The cousin, who was armed, exchanged gunfire with the intruders; Ramos was shot multiple times in the torso, abdomen, and leg and was later found dead in a drainage ditch near the residence.

Orange County investigators arrested Law, 24, and Washington, 20, charging both with second-degree murder with a firearm and attempted home invasion robbery with a firearm. Law also faced an attempted first-degree murder with a firearm charge. Detectives could not definitively determine whose bullets caused Ramos’ death, and the cousin who fired in self-defense was not charged. During the probe investigators learned Ramos had been unemployed and involved in a dispute with the cousin over a woman, a conflict that reportedly motivated the planned robbery. Law initially gave a false alibi and was linked to the scene by injuries and other evidence before ceasing cooperation.

Anyone with information about the robbery attempt or the events that night is asked to come forward.