Police Need Help Finding Suspected Killer Of 16-Year-Old Boy In Santa Ana
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — The mother of a 21-year-old man accused of killing a teenage boy in Santa Ana is pleading for her son to turn himself in.
Alex Adrian Ramirez, 16, was shot and killed at a home in the 3600 block of W. Hazard Avenue around 11:45 p.m. Sunday, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
The suspect has been identified as the victim's friend, Matthew Granados, described as a Hispanic man, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds with long black hair and brown eyes.
Granados' mother, Lydia, said her son accidentally shot the victim in the chest in the suspect's bedroom.
Initially, police thought the victim was killed in a drive-by shooting. But they later found evidence that suggested the shooting took place inside a bedroom of the home on Hazard Avenue.
"(Investigators) obtained a search warrant this morning and located what they believe is the actual crime scene, one of the bedrooms," Bertagna said.
He said investigators also discovered inside the home the gun they believed was used to kill Ramirez, who was a good student with plans of becoming a professional skateboarder.
"This is sad knowing that the talent that he had the skateboarding, the passion he had for it and just to be taken just like that. I'm speechless," said the victim's friend David Dorado.
"We lost one child. Alex wouldn't have wanted that. He came here to be a part of somewhere that he felt accepted and acknowledged," said the suspect's mother.
Detectives said she helped her son get away before police arrived. They said the family has not cooperated with the investigation.
"The way it's been handled. It's obvious that they were trying to cover up what occurred at their residence. There's a 16-year-old by all accounts good kid that's now dead. That's tragic," Bertagna said.
The suspect's father, Alexander Christopher Granados, 41, was arrested Monday on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact.
Granados is considered armed and dangerous and could have access to other weapons, Bertagna said.
If you have seen the suspect or have any information, Santa Ana police would like to hear from you.
