In the winter of 2019, the life of 19-year-old William Rual Ramirez came to a violent end in Greenville, South Carolina. A Hispanic male, Ramirez was found deceased on January 27, 2019, by utility workers at the terminus of Lakeside Road, in close proximity to Interstate 85. An investigation by the Greenville County Sheriff's Office determined that he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
The events that culminated in Ramirez's death began to unfold a
day earlier. On January 26, 2019, Ramirez, in the company of Niklaus Anthony Bennett and others, was involved in a robbery at the Fleetwood Manor Apartments. This incident turned fatal as 21-year-old Jamell Wingfield was shot and killed during the commission of the crime. The following day, Ramirez was driven to the secluded end of Lakeside Road by Bennett and another associate, Stephon Rasheid Sherman. It was there that Bennett and Sherman shot and killed Ramirez.
The investigation into Ramirez's murder revealed a shared criminal history between him and Bennett. Both young men had been recently released from prison, where Ramirez had served a sentence from January 23, 2017, to January 15, 2019, for charges including second-degree burglary, criminal conspiracy, breaking into a vehicle, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Bennett had been incarcerated for his involvement in the same 2015 burglary and was released around the same time as Ramirez. Both were under 'intensive supervision' as part of a rehabilitation program at the time of the murders.
Following the discovery of Ramirez's body and the subsequent investigation, both Niklaus Anthony Bennett and Stephon Rasheid Sherman were apprehended. Bennett was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Sherman faced charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
