April 20 — Ramiro Gonzales
When Ramiro’s mother was pregnant with him, she allegedly used drugs and then abandoned him after he was born. Ramiro was raised by his grandmother, but growing up, he was allegedly abused by a male relative. He quit school after seventh grade, and became a regular drug and alcohol consumer by 12. He worked as a welder and fence builder before he was arrested.
Ramiro had a drug dealer, Joe Leal, whose girlfriend would be the murder victim. Ramiro wanted to obtain some drugs, so he called Joe, when Bridget Townsend , Joe’s girlfriend, picked up. Gonzales decided to steal some cocaine, since his dealer wasn’t at home. He ignored Bridget while stealing from $100-$500 worth of cash. As she began calling Joe, Gonzales tied her up in the bedroom and went to go get his rifle. He later confessed that he planned to shoot Bridget so that Joe wouldn’t know that he stole from him, and that he hadn’t kidnapped Bridget.
Gonzales gave conflicting stories before his confession to the murder of Bridget Townsend. He initially blamed the Mexican Mafia and Joe, Bridget’s boyfriend, saying that they hired him to kill her. Then he switched his story to Joe and him agreeing to shoot Bridget. In the end, he confessed that he was solely responsible for the murder of Bridget Townsend. During his trial, a woman that he had kidnapped and raped, testified that she believed she would’ve died if she hadn’t managed to escape.
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