By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES -—The Los Angeles Police Department has released video footage showing the fatal shooting of a teenager in South Los Angeles last month.
The nearly 15 minute video shows the confrontation July 13 between undercover LAPD Sgt. Michael Pounds and Ricardo “Ricky” Ramirez Jr., 18, who was riding in a vehicle with a murder suspect near 66th and Figueroa streets.
“It is a parent’s worst nightmare to hear their child has been killed,” Ramirez’ father, Ricky Ramirez Sr., said in a statement. “Now seeing the video the horror worsens: Ricky was shot in cold blood with both of his hands outstretched with clearly no gun.
“There was no immediate threat to the officer that warranted shooting Ricky. You can see the officer already had his gun out as Ricky approached the car. He pointed it and without even saying ‘stop, police,’ he shot Ricky dead. Both of Ricky’s hands are visible and there is no gun. He killed my son in cold blood.”
According to the LAPD, 77th Street Station plain clothes vice officers were conducting a prostitution enforcement detail along Figueroa that night. Around 10:24 p.m., one of the vice units observed the occupants of a silver Cadillac wearing ski masks and in a possible dispute with the driver of another vehicle. That information was broadcast to other units in the area.
The video shows Ramirez get out of the Cadillac and run toward the driver’s-side door of Pounds’ unmarked vehicle. Immediately, Pounds fired through the window, hitting Ramirez in the chest. Ramirez fell to the ground and crawled away before collapsing in the street.
The other occupant returned to the vehicle, which left the scene, launching a pursuit by officers that ended in San Bernardino County.
“Responding 77th Street uniformed officers initiated a pursuit of the Cadillac that was eventually taken over by the California Highway Patrol,” a statement issued by the LAPD said.
The pursuit ended on the 15 Freeway in San Bernardino County, where three occupants were taken into custody without incident. The driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old Israel Dezama, was ultimately arrested for felony evading, according to the LAPD statement.
On Aug. 1, Dezama was arrested again, this time in connection with a murder in Northern California over the July 4 weekend.
Ramirez’s family has indicated plans to sue the city over their son’s death.
“We will vigorously prosecute this case to bring Ricky and his family justice,” family attorney Christopher Dolan announced at a press conference Aug. 7.
“A 2023 study reported that over 1,020 people in L.A. County have been killed by police since 2020, Dolan said. “The report revealed that almost all the dead were men, nearly 80% were Black or Latino and nearly 92% were shot to death.
“Ricky, a Latino man, was shot and killed by a senior officer, concealed behind tinted windows in an unmarked car. Sergeant Pounds was aggressively tailgating, being provocative, and never, in any way, identified himself as a cop.”
Ramirez was a recent high school graduate who lived in Richmond, California, in the Bay Area.
“Ricky, my only son, was a good kid, made everybody smile and feel loved,” his father said. “He was at the threshold of his whole life having just graduated and the LAPD shot him causing him to fall through death’s door.
“Hiding behind tinted glass, without any warning, Ricky was killed. His only crime was being young and of color. This has to stop.”
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
