On the evening of April 14, 2021, a tragic and violent event unfolded in Norcross, Georgia, culminating in the death of 23-year-old Pedro Lopez-Belloso. He was a male riding as a passenger in an SUV on Jimmy Carter Boulevard when he was fatally shot in the back of the head. The man responsible for his death, Jorge Alberto Ramirez, 35, was in the backseat of the same vehicle.
Ramirez, a self-proclaimed 'patriot,' was armed with an AR-15 rifle. He claimed to police that he felt a sense of unease because Lopez-Belloso was also armed. This 'weird feeling' led him to chamber a round in his rifle. Soon after, the weapon discharged, striking Lopez-Belloso. Initially, Ramirez told investigators that the rifle had accidentally fired while it was at his side.
However, evidence and Ramirez's own words would later contradict this account. He had told the driver of the SUV, 'I don't give a damn … There ain't gonna be emotion of jealousy, envy, hatred…'. While detained in a police car after the shooting, Ramirez was recorded making incriminating statements. He said he shot Lopez-Belloso because the 'immigrant want to envy, hate, and be jealous on an American citizen of the United States of America.'. He further stated, '...Our oath is if you try our patriots, our patriots will respond with the almighty great accuracy, and definition of a solution...'. In March 2022, Ramirez changed his story again, telling prosecutors he had been asleep and the rifle, propped up next to him, fell and fired accidentally.
A Gwinnett County jury found Jorge Alberto Ramirez guilty of three counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. An analysis by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that the rifle could not have fired accidentally and required a human to pull the trigger. Ramirez was subsequently sentenced to life in prison plus five years for the murder of Pedro Lopez-Belloso.
