A young man was found dead in the back of a taxi after a night out with friends before his bank accounts were emptied a few days later.
Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, met a friend in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on April 20, 2022, and was found dead hours later.
Security footage, taken in the early hours of April 21, shows Julio walking away from the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a gay dance club, with three unknown men, his older brother Carlos Ramirez told NBC News.
Carlos, who spoke to investigators, learned that his brother and three men got into a taxi together around 3:17 a.m.
However, about three miles from the location and nearly an hour later, Julio was unresponsive and alone in the backseat of the vehicle.
The taxi driver called for NYPD assistance at 4:10 a.m. on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, but the 25-year-old was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 4:49 a.m. on April 21, sources said. policewomen.
Julio’s phone and wallet were missing when he died.
According to police sources, his initial cause of death was due to a “possible drug overdose”.
The medical examiner told NBC News that an official cause and manner of death could take “at least a few weeks.”
An investigation is underway as major questions remain unanswered, such as who emptied Juilio’s bank accounts following his death.
Carlos, 32, said he tried to call his brother on the afternoon of April 21 and noticed his phone seemed off.
It wasn’t until April 22 that he learned his brother had died, a day he called “the worst day of my life.”
Mysteriously, on April 25, Carlos noticed an Apple iCloud password change and strange money transfers in his brother’s emails.
Carlos told NBC News: “They had literally taken every dollar he had, all of his savings and all of his money.”
He estimated around $20,000 was withdrawn from his brother through apps like Apple Pay and Zelle, although the NYPD did not confirm that claim to the outlet.
Carlos, who has not seen the security footage, suspects Julio of being drugged and robbed.
He also learned from investigators that his brother was seen in the footage standing alone outside the entrance to the venue for around 12 minutes before walking away with two unidentified men and eventually encountering the third unidentified man on their walk.
According to NBC News, Julio’s loved ones took to social media and called for “justice for Julio.”
A May 9 Instagram post read, “We urge you to raise awareness of the death of Julio Cesar Ramirez, to give a voice to Latino gay men who are victims of crime in this city, and to seek justice for the loved ones he has suffered. left behind. .
“Julio’s story needs to be heard.”
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