Ricardo Ricky Ramirez Jr., an 18-year-old from the Bay Area who had just graduated high school, was fatally shot in Los Angeles on the night of July 13, 2024. He was visiting the city with three friends and was in a silver Cadillac in the Figueroa Corridor when they were followed by a dark, unmarked sedan with heavily tinted windows. After making several turns to evade the vehicle, the group stopped near 66th Street and Flower Street. Ramirez and another passenger, both unarmed, exited with their palms raised and approached the sedan to ask why they were being followed; a single shot from inside the car struck Ramirez in the chest.

The shooter was identified as an undercover LAPD vice sergeant, Michael Pounds, who was in plain clothes. The family’s attorney says the sergeant did not identify himself as law enforcement, did not activate lights or siren, and issued no commands before firing. Police have said vice officers were conducting a prostitution enforcement operation and initially asserted Ramirez was armed and that the occupants wore ski masks; searches turned up no weapon and the family’s attorney disputes the mask claim. The shooting is under investigation by the LAPD Force Investigation Division and the California Department of Justice, and the family announced a lawsuit in August 2024.

Does anyone have direct information about what happened near 66th and Flower on July 13 that could help clarify the events that night?