Maria Ramos was 33 and a mother of eight when she was shot and killed in East Oakland on August 7, 2024. Visiting her mother, Blanca Velasco, that afternoon, Ramos saw a car she suspected was selling marijuana vape pens to one of her children. Ramos and Velasco followed the vehicle to the intersection of Hilton Street and Bancroft Avenue.

Surveillance footage shows Ramos exit her mother’s SUV and deploy pepper spray toward the car at about 2:20 p.m. A teenager then exited the vehicle with a pistol and opened fire; Ramos was struck multiple times as she ran and was pronounced dead at the scene. Velasco drove away after a gun was pointed at her, then returned and found her daughter on the street.

Using the license plate Velasco provided, Oakland police identified and arrested three suspects within 12 hours. A 16-year-old, Ivan Gonzalez, was identified as the alleged shooter and charged with murder in juvenile court; a 19-year-old, Isaiah Gomez, was charged as an accessory after the fact for driving Gonzalez away; a 17-year-old was identified as a suspect in the marijuana sale. If anyone has information about what happened that afternoon or knew Maria, please share what is known.