On the evening of April 26, 2014, Killeen police officers responded to a report of a man with a gun in the 3400 block of Stan Schlueter Loop. Upon arrival, they discovered a silver Honda Accord with its lights off, stationary in the roadway in the 4600 block of Lonesome Dove Drive. Inside the vehicle, officers found 35-year-old Jorge Ramirez Jr., a Hispanic male, slumped over in the driver's seat, suffering from a gunshot wound. The back driver's side window of the car was shattered.
Officers immediately initiated CPR until paramedics arrived and transported Mr. Ramirez to the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center. Despite their efforts, he succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
The following day, April 27, 2014, detectives reviewed the case with the Bell County District Attorney's Office. As a result, a complaint was issued charging 17-year-old De’Marcus Kar’del Bronner, an African American male from Killeen, with murder. Justice of the Peace Bill Cooke set Bronner's bond at $1,000,000, and he was subsequently transferred to the Bell County Jail. The investigation revealed that the initial report involved a man wearing all black and possibly armed with a shotgun, though specific details about the events leading up to the shooting were not disclosed.
The arrest of De’Marcus Kar’del Bronner, a 17-year-old African American male, brought some measure of resolution to the tragic death of 35-year-old Jorge Ramirez Jr., a Hispanic male. The community of Killeen was left to grapple with the senseless loss, as the legal proceedings against Bronner moved forward in the aftermath of the incident.
