Trial wrapping up in shooting of man, 10-year-old boy

Closing arguments began Thursday in the six-month trial of three men accused in the July 2009 Modesto shooting of a 10-year-old boy and a man killed in what authorities have called Norteño gang retaliation.

Authorities say Joe Luis Ramirez, Aaron Aguilera and Randy Sifuentez are responsible for the deaths of Epifanio Ramirez Jr., 10, and Jason Cyphers, 29, in the 100 block of Santa Barbara Avenue in Modesto’s La Loma neighborhood.

Investigators believe the boy’s father, Epifanio Ramirez Sr., was the intended target. The boy was killed by a stray bullet that went through a wall and hit his head. Joe Ramirez has no relation to the boy or his father.

A grand jury indicted the three defendants on two counts of murder with enhancements of acting with premeditation, using a gun and acting on behalf of the Norteño street gang.

Up first Thursday was prosecutor Tom Brennan, who reminded jurors that the defendants are accused of premeditated murder in the boy’s death even though he was an unintended target. It’s a case of “transferred intent,” he said. “Intent follows the bullet,” meaning if someone has intent to kill one person but accidentally kills another, it’s premeditated murder all the same.

Brennan said Joe Ramirez has “super-high elevation” in the gang, with the power to order murders. He said the hit ordered on Epifanio Ramirez Sr. was to benefit the Norteños because a gang dropout selling a high volume of drugs on its turf gives them a black eye if not taken care of. He said Epifanio Ramirez Sr. was “proudly, obnoxiously selling drugs out of his garage.”

The message in the attempted hit on him was clear, Brennan said. “Don’t mess with the Norteño gang – cross us and you’re going to be moved on.”

Sifuentez and Aguilera are accused of carrying out the July 28, 2009, shootings that killed Cyphers and Ramirez Jr. Informants testified during the trial that Joe Ramirez ordered the shooting with statements such as “You can’t take care of your own backyard?” and “Take care of him.”

The first defense attorney to give his closing arguments was Michael Platt, representing Joe Ramirez.

He first addressed statements Brennan made about Norteño activity to show the killings were for the gang’s benefit.

“I don’t give a damn what the gang did,” Platt said. “This is about what Joe Ramirez did or did not do, based on the evidence.” Platt said the evidence shows Ramirez was not a physical participant in the shooting and does not show he ordered it.

Joe Ramirez was in federal custody in 2008 and part of 2009, when some of the prosecution’s star witnesses say he was out and running the gang, said Platt, “when he wasn’t and couldn’t have been.”

He questioned the credibility of the informants, saying they sold the prosecution a story for their own benefit.

“If you don’t find them credible, and I don’t see how you could, then he has not met his obligation,” Platt said of Brennan.

Closing arguments are set to continue next week.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Trial wrapping up in shooting of man, 10-year-old boy."