Oscar A. Ramirez, 24, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of April 17, 2025, outside the Kwik Shop at 746 NE Wabash Avenue in Topeka’s Oakland neighborhood. Police found him with life-threatening injuries after a 3:00 AM dispatch for a shooting; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The city’s fourth homicide of the year, the case moved fast and that same day authorities arrested 19-year-old Caleb E. Brown of Topeka.

Brown was booked into the Shawnee County Jail on preliminary counts of voluntary manslaughter with an assertion of unreasonable belief of justified deadly force, and possession of a firearm while under the influence. He was held without bond pending formal charges. Few details have been released about what led to the altercation or whether Ramirez and the suspect knew each other. Ramirez is remembered as a devoted father to his daughter Janessa Rose Ramirez, a lifelong member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, a 2019 graduate of Topeka High School, and an avid soccer player for local clubs and his high school.

Did anyone in the Oakland neighborhood see or hear anything that night, or know Oscar’s movements before 3:00 AM?