Maria Ramos, a 33-year-old Hispanic/Latino mother of eight from Los Angeles, was a woman who had overcome a past of drug abuse and was dedicated to her children. Her family remembered her as a cheerful and lovable person whose kids were her world. Having been in recovery for six years, she had reconnected with her mother, Blanca Velasco, and was spending the summer visiting her in East Oakland, California.
On the afternoon of August 7, 2024, Ramos saw a car near her mother’s home and
suspected the occupants were selling marijuana vape pens to one of her children. Determined to protect her family, Ramos and Velasco decided to follow the vehicle to tell the occupants to stay away. They pursued the car to the intersection of Hilton Street and Bancroft Avenue. Around 2:20 p.m., surveillance footage captured Ramos getting out of her mother’s SUV and deploying pepper spray into the suspects’ car. In response, a teenager exited the vehicle with a pistol and opened fire. Ramos was shot multiple times as she tried to run away and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her mother, who had driven away after a gun was pointed at her, circled back to find her daughter lying on the street. Velasco recalled holding her daughter in her arms, telling her to breathe. “She tried really hard,” Velasco said. Using the license plate number Velasco provided, Oakland police acted swiftly, identifying and arresting three suspects within 12 hours of the shooting.
The investigation led to charges against two of the three individuals. The alleged shooter, identified as 16-year-old Ivan Gonzalez, was charged with murder in juvenile court and held at Alameda County Juvenile Hall. The driver of the car, 19-year-old Isaiah Gomez, was charged as an accessory after the fact for driving Gonzalez away from the scene. A third juvenile, a 17-year-old boy, was also identified as a suspect in the marijuana sale.
Isaiah Gomez later pleaded no contest to being an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 14 days of time served. As of his sentencing in March 2025, the case against Ivan Gonzalez was proceeding in juvenile court.
