Dany Josellito Carrillo-Ramos was a hardworking and devoted young man, focused on building a future for his family back in Guatemala. At 22 years old, the Hispanic man had come to the United States five years earlier, at the age of 17, with the singular goal of working to send money home to his mother, brother, and his young daughter. He worked two jobs to support them, driven by the dream of providing a good education for his daughter, a little girl he had never had the chance to meet in person. His cousin, Yenifer Menchu, remembered him as a responsible person who never caused trouble for anyone. "He was a very responsible person,” she said. “He never messed with anybody.”
The evening of August 4, 2020, was tragically his last. At approximately 7:05 p.m., Carrillo-Ramos was in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He had just used an ATM at a bank on the 1500 block of East 103rd Street and was walking back to his car. As he did, he was approached by a man who attempted to rob him. A brief struggle broke out between Carrillo-Ramos and his assailant, which ended in gunfire. Carrillo-Ramos was shot, and the gunman fled in a vehicle.
The response from law enforcement was immediate. Los Angeles Police Department officers were already in the vicinity and saw the suspect attempting to flee. They intercepted his vehicle after a short pursuit and took him into custody. The investigation was handled by the LAPD’s South Bureau Homicide division. The cause of death was confirmed by the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner to be a gunshot wound.
The man arrested was identified as 25-year-old Anthony Dajuan Hodge. According to court records, he was subsequently charged with one count of murder, one count of robbery, one count of carrying a concealed weapon, and one count of carrying a loaded firearm. The swift arrest brought a suspect into the justice system, but it could not undo the profound loss felt by those who knew and loved Dany. "We still can't accept the fact that we're never going to see him again," his cousin Yenifer shared in the wake of his death.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, an online fundraiser was established to help support Carrillo-Ramos’s family, particularly his 5-year-old daughter, who now faced a future without the father who had worked so tirelessly for her from thousands of miles away. His death was a stark reminder of the random violence that can shatter lives and tear families apart, a story that resonated deeply within the Los Angeles community that year amid a broader surge in homicides.
As of late 2020, the case against Anthony Dajuan Hodge was proceeding through the court system. The Los Angeles Police Department asked that anyone with further information about the incident call detectives at (323) 786-5111. Those wishing to provide information anonymously were encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. The final disposition of the charges against Hodge is not publicly available in recent records.
