Joseph Michael Ramirez

Joseph Michael Ramirez, a 43-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was inside a deli in the Bronx on a Sunday afternoon when his life was cut short by a single gunshot. The fatal encounter occurred just before 3:30 p.m. on September 5, 2021, on White Plains Road near Nereid Avenue. According to police, Ramirez was shot once in the chest while inside the store.

A woman working in a shop next door later recalled hearing the shot. She said she was scared and did not go outside, but then saw Ramirez stumble out of the deli. He grabbed onto her open door before he collapsed onto the sidewalk. The witness called 911 for help. Emergency responders arrived and transported Ramirez to Montefiore Medical Center, but he could not be saved and died later that day. His death was one of five homicides to occur within a five-day period in the NYPD's 47th Precinct.

The investigation quickly led detectives to a suspect. Two days after the shooting, on September 7, 2021, police arrested 45-year-old Davel Ramos. Authorities reported that Ramos, who was on parole for a prior weapons conviction, was taken into custody when he showed up for a scheduled meeting with his parole officer.

Following his arrest, Davel Ramos was charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Court records indicated that Ramos had been on parole since 2017 after serving nine years in prison on a weapons charge. Before that, he had served seven years for an attempted robbery conviction. As of the announcement of his arrest in September 2021, the case against him was proceeding through the court system.