Laura Michelle Ramriez (Allegheny County Police Dept.) and Bella Seachrist (Burket-Truby Funeral Home)
A 31-year-old woman in Pennsylvania will be spending the rest of her life behind bars for the prolonged torture and killing of her 3-year-old stepdaughter three years ago. Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer on Wednesday ordered Laura Michelle Ramriez to serve a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole plus an additional 37 to 74 years for the execrable 2020 slaying of young Bella Seachrist, authorities announced.
Ramriez was found guilty of first-degree murder (life without parole), two counts of aggravated assault (5 to 10 years each), and one count each of endangering the welfare of a child (5 to 10 years), unlawful restraint (2 to 4 years), and conspiracy to commit homicide (20 to 40 years). Judge Beemer ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning one after another.
While Ramriez was considered the mastermind of the horrific abuse, Bella’s father, 32-year-old Jose Eduardo Salazar-Ortiz, in May was convicted on one count each of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and conspiracy to commit homicide in his daughter’s death. He was subsequently sentenced to 33 to 66 years in prison.
Ramriez’s 23-year-old sister, Alexis Herrera, also allegedly took part in abusing Bella and is currently scheduled to begin trial in January, records show.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, authorities said that prior to her death, Bella was “tortured” and “looked like a child out of a concentration camp.”
According to a press release from the Allegheny County Police Department, officers on the afternoon of June 9, 2020, responded to an emergency call at a residence located on Tenth Street regarding a report that a 3-year-old child — later identified as Bella — was “unresponsive” in a bathtub.
