While the official cause of death of the young Julio Ramírez (25) has not yet been determined, many speculate what happened on the night of April 20 when he went out to tour bars in Hell’s Kitchen and then appeared unconscious in a taxi on the other side of NYC , on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Some think that the young man of Salvadoran origin was drugged through the various drinks he had that night. “I think he’s really unlucky and I think you have to be very careful,” he told Pix11 Terrence Schroeder neighbor of the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a popular multi-level venue in the heart of Restaurant Rowon West 46th Street, between 8th and 9th Av, the last of the bars that Ramírez allegedly visited.
The young man’s family, who obtained a double master’s degree in Public Health and Social Work last year, said that in addition thousands of dollars were withdrawn from his bank account in the hours and days after They found him unconscious in the back of a taxi in the early hours of April 21.
On social networks, some have commented that they have been victims of adulterated or “injected” drinks in bars in the area, and that they were later stolen or turned up elsewhere, remembering nothing, even naked with strangers.
Carlos Camacho, a 24-year-old aspiring actor who lives in that area, told the NYPD that he and Ramírez met on April 20 at 7 p.m. and they visited three places, all within half a mile one from the other: “Rise Bar”, “Mickey Spillane’s” and, finally, “Ritz Bar and Lounge”. After the long day, the friends said goodbye around 3 am
Surveillance footage obtained by police showed Ramirez at 3:17 a.m. getting into a taxi with three other men near the “Ritz Bar and Lounge,” where the young man had taken a selfie at 2:26 a.m., in apparent good health.
“I have been a victim of punctures. I literally had a drink… When I woke up the next morning, I was in someone’s bed, half naked.”
Young patron of a bar in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
Supposedly the other men who got into the taxi with him were left in different places, until he was left in the vehicle with the driver. Ramírez was alone in the back seat at 4:10 a.m. when the taxi driver approached a police officer to tell him that his passenger was unresponsive in the car. neighborhood Lower East Side of Manhattannear Ludlow and Stanton streets, 3 miles away from the bar.
Despite efforts by the NYPD officer and paramedics to save his life, Ramirez was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 4:49 a.m. on April 21, a law enforcement source said, adding that the initial cause of death was listed as What “possible drug overdose”. But the official “cause and manner of death” are pending further study.
“When I heard … I immediately thought someone had drugged him,” said Karinina Quimpo, a close friend of Ramirez from her days at the University at Buffalo. “My initial instinct is that they gave him something.”
“I have been the victim of punctures,” he told Pix11 an unidentified young man, on 9th Avenue. “I literally had a drink. I remember falling down.” He said that he remembered getting up, but not much else. “When I woke up the next morning, I was in someone’s bed, half naked,” he added.
Mark Marciniak, a tourist visiting New York from Detroit, said he had heard about the case. “It’s hard to believe that no one saw anything… Maybe he didn’t care enough to help.”
The Medical Examiner’s Office did not yet have an official cause of death. The family has been told that toxicology tests are being conducted. Ramirez was initially identified as “John Doe” because neither his wallet nor his phone were with him when he diedsaid his brother Carlos.
Her parents, Ana and Julio Ramírez Sr, are immigrants from El Salvador and live in Central Islip, Long Island. On Thursday, the mother held a framed photo of her son receiving his master’s degree in 2021.
The father remembered a son who made them proud. “Since he was a little boy, he was very polite,” he stated. “Very responsible with his studies.”
