DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman issued a bench warrant for a homicide defendant who failed to appear for a court hearing on May 4.
Jose Ramos, 38, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal beating of 57-year-old Eduardo Cruz, on Jan. 25, 2022 on the 3700 block of Georgia Avenue, NW.
Judge Edelman issued the writ during a pre-trial show cause hearing after the absent Ramos failed to to address allegations that he violated his release conditions. Ramos’ attorney, Alvin Thomas, said he did not know his client’s status.
Judge Edelman said he received a request for judicial action the week prior to the hearing about reports of an escalating number of home confinement and curfew violations by Ramos. He noted that his “most concern,” was that Ramos’ GPS tracking device died on April 30.
At the hearing, parties discussed the defendant’s apparent non-compliance with the terms of his pretrial release. Judge Edelman asked a representative from the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) for any updates on Ramos’ status since the tracking device died.
The PSA representative said there had been no contact with Ramos since that report. He confirmed that the device remained dead and Ramos’ whereabouts were unknown.
Judge Edelman said the court could not effectively conduct the show cause hearing without the defendant’s presence. He issued the warrant to secure Ramos’ return to court.
Parties will reconvene when US Marshals execute the warrant.
