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Pocono News Section
Deadly Beating May Be Racially Motivated
Deadly Beating May Be Racially Motivated - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:00PM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008 @ 06:00pm EST
SHENANDOAH, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY- An investigation continues in Schuylkill County after a man was beaten so badly he died. Luis Ramirez was assaulted late Saturday night in Shenandoah. He died Monday morning.
An autopsy on the 25-year-old's body was done Tuesday morning. The results have still not been released. When they are released this case could go to a murder or manslaughter investigation.
In the meantime Eyewitness News was on Lloyd Street was in Shenandoah where the brutal attack took place. Witness Eileen Burke looks out over Lloyd Street and remembers late Saturday night vividly.
That's the night 25-year-old Luis Ramirez was badly beaten and later died from his injuries. “All of a sudden, I heard a female screaming, stopping hitting him, stop beating them," she recalled.
Burke ran out into the street after seeing between 6 and 10 young kids attack Ramirez. “I would say, before I came downstairs, it was a good 5-7 minutes that they were pounding him," she said.
A single flower now marks the spot where Ramirez died. Neighbors say he was in the country illegally. What burke heard may indicate the crime was racially motivated. Burke says she heard the group shouting, “[expletive] your Mexican friends and you tell them to get the [expletive] out of Shenandoah, or you’re going to be lying next to him.”
No one answered the door where Ramirez had his last known address. Some people who walk in the neighborhood, like Donna Jankaitis, are on edge. “I walk here. It used to be a friendly town. You weren't afraid. Now, I tell everybody and now I'm afraid," she said.
But that's not the case with everybody. Shenandoah resident Angee McCabe told Eyewitness she isn’t nervous but says the town has changed. “I grew up in this town. It was safe until these people [illegal immigrants] came here and it went downhill,” she said.
Shenandoah police say they are still interviewing witnesses in the case. They also say when the final results of the autopsy come in they will meet with the District Attorney to find out what charges need to be filed. | | |
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