The family of Andres Ramirez, who was shot and killed by Santa Ana police in December, has filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit claiming that Ramirez was shot in the back of the head by police, who then fabricated a story about the victim brandishing a knife.
Ramirez, 21, was visiting relatives in Santa Ana from North Carolina. According to a Santa Ana police spokesman, officers were called to a Poplar Street neighborhood to investigate a report of gang members loitering in an alley. One of the officers encountered Ramirez, who allegedly pulled out a knife. What happened after that, the spokesman said, is still under investigation.
In the lawsuit, the family alleges that Ramirez was cooperating with police and did not have a knife. They say he was standing with his arms up when an officer came up behind him and shot him in the back of the head. A California death certificated shows that Ramirez died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Ramirez was engaged with two children at the time of his death. The family is seeking $20 million to compensate the children for the loss of their father, as well as for pain and suffering, the value of his life, and funeral expenses.
If you or a loved one is involved in an event or accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States. Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.
Our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
