Man charged with killing father

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This article was published 29/12/2019 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man walked into Winnipeg police headquarters Friday and calmly confessed to having killed his relative, police said Sunday, announcing details about the city’s 44th homicide of the year; a number double that of 2018.

Milles Anthony Ramirez, 31, has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Reynaldo Ramirez, 54, at a home they shared on the first 100 block of Highwater Path in Inkster Gardens.

While police would not confirm the nature of their relationship, a source told the Free Press they are father and son.

“Investigators have a pretty good idea about what happened in the residence, but they don’t necessarily have a great idea about why it happened. That’s something that will form a part of the investigation… and may come out when this eventually comes to court,” Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jay Murray said on Sunday.

The slaying marked the 44th of 2019: the highest annual total since 2011, when there were 41 homicides. Last year, Winnipeg recorded 22 homicides. 

Police said the accused walked into police headquarters at 245 Smith St. around 4:20 p.m. Friday and told officers he’d killed someone and provided the address where the body could be found.

Soon after, police received a phone call from someone in the residence who had found the body. Emergency services were dispatched and Reynaldo Ramirez was found dead.

The police identification unit was at the townhouse much of Saturday, although police did not confirm the incident was a homicide at the time.

Murray said it’s uncommon for someone in Winnipeg to turn himself in and confess to a violent crime.

“It’s relatively rare. It has happened before. I can think of a few instances over the past 10 to 20 years… but it’s certainly very rare and I think a surprise for the officers that were working,” Murray said.

“Soon after, when we got the call, we knew there was substance to what this person was saying and this person was taken into custody.”

Neither individual was known to police. The fatal stabbing is believed to have happened the same day the accused turned himself in.

Investigators believe they have found the weapon used in the stabbing, Murray said.

Despite the confession and charges being laid, Murray said investigators have more work to do before closing the file.

“Investigators are trained to work with a whole variety of situations that might present themselves. This is just another one of those. They kind of work backwards in a sense. Usually, a confession or admission from a suspect is one of the last things that happen, but in this case it was one of the first,” Murray said.

“You feel for the family, who have just lost one family member and, depending on how you look at it, likely a second member, too. I think right now you really feel for the family and what the family is going through.”

The slaying was the second homicide in the city in less than a week. On Christmas Day, police found a man suffering from injuries sustained in an assault on a sidewalk near Salter Street and Redwood Avenue. He was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived to transport him to hospital.

Police later identified him as Gordon Edward Pashe, 37. It was the second year in a row Winnipeg has had a homicide on Christmas Day.

“It’s been a challenging year. This year has taken a toll on officers, not only in the homicide unit, officers with our identification unit, but every officer has seen an increased workload and that starts from general patrol onwards,” Murray said.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe