More than two weeks after arresting her husband for death of her mother, Pennsylvania police have charged Johana Ramos with criminal homicide and conspiracy in the gruesome death.
The Northern York County Regional Police Department said it responded to a call about a disturbance in Dover Borough on June 6. and found 42-year-old William Emilio Torres Gautier, his wife — Ramos, 31 — and two small children in the rear of the home.
“While speaking to Gautier, the female was observed to be signaling for help,” police said. “As officers attempted to speak to the female, Gautier intervened and pushed a section of wooden fence at officers, striking one of them. The officers took Gautier into custody after a brief struggle.”
The woman told the officers that her 67-year-old mother was in the home and needed help. The officers found Lourdes Ramos Baez dead in an upstairs bedroom.
According to the York Daily Record, an affidavit says that police found Ramos Baez face down beneath a pile of clothes and other items. Her face and eyes were covered in duct tape, and coat hangers were wrapped around her neck. Police said her arms had been bound behind her back, and she was stabbed in the back with a pair of scissors. Investigators also found what appeared to be salt poured over her body.
Gautier was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, terroristic threats, abuse of a corpse, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief, police said.
The affidavit further said that Ramos told police her husband told her the night before “he was going to kill” her mother and “take all of her money.” He woke her early that morning acting “ballistic.” She said he kicked in the door to her mother’s room and began screaming at her. She told police she grabbed the children and ran outside, where she could still hear her mother screaming. Torres Gautier then refused to let them come back inside the house — for hours, she said — while he was “inside fixing things” and “using Clorox.”
The county coroner later said she suffered blunt force trauma to the head and neck and had been strangled, Law & Crime reported.
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Police said they were still investigating the incident, and on Friday they announced they’d arrested Ramos.
“Johana Ramos participated in the act and assisted Gautier with duct taping the victim’s head and face,” they said.
Ramos was charged with criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide.
Like her husband, she is being held without bond. She is due back in court on July 7, according to Law & Crime, and Gautier is due back on August 1.
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[Featured image: William Emilio Torres Gautier/York County Prison and Johana Ramos/Northern York County Regional Police Department]
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