MONTEREY COUNTY (BCN)—A 24-year-old known gang member was sentenced today for fatally shooting a Soledad father walking his dog on a Monterey beach last year, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Victor Ramos, a member of the Sureno criminal street gang, was sentenced to 32 years and eight months in prison for the March 2015 death of Abraham Lizama at Del Monte Beach, prosecutors said.
On March 14, 2015, Lizama was walking his puppy on the beach and was seen by Ramos, who suspected the victim was part of the rival Norteno criminal street gang, prosecutors said.
Ramos, who was at a bonfire, went up to Lizama and asked him where he was from, according to prosecutors.
When Lizama answered that he was from Soledad, Ramos fired multiple times at the victim and his puppy, prosecutors said.
Lizama, father of two young children, suffered fatal injuries from the shooting, according to prosecutors.
Ramos and his friends left Monterey in a car headed back to Salinas, prosecutors said.
A Monterey police officer who heard the shots took down the license plate number of the car Ramos and his friends left in, according to prosecutors.
Ramos was arrested soon after and identified by witnesses are the shooter, prosecutors said.
During today’s hearing, remarks were made by Lizama’s father and sisters who talked about the “senselessness” of the shooting and how the murder affected their family, according to prosecutors.
Lizama’s father held a picture of his son and the victim’s children that was taken before the shooting, prosecutors said.