In the early hours of April 2, 2024, Mario Montecinos Ramos, a 25-year-old Hispanic man, was shot and killed while asleep at a residence in the 8500 block of Old Percival Road in Columbia, South Carolina. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call about the shooting at about 1 a.m. and found Montecinos Ramos deceased at the scene.

Montecinos Ramos lived in the house with four other residents. Those roommates awakened to gunfire; they restrained the alleged shooter and secured the firearm until deputies arrived. An 18-year-old resident, Amadeo Lopez-Castillo, was taken into custody at the scene and later charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. A court date for Lopez-Castillo was scheduled for June 2024. Arrangements were made to return Montecinos Ramos’s body to his family in Guatemala. The motive has not been released.

If anyone knew Mario, lived at or near that address, or has information about what led to this shooting, please share what you know.