In the early morning hours of Thursday, August 19, 2021, the stillness of Ditmar Alley in Trenton was broken by the sound of violence. Responding to a call just after 4 a.m., Trenton police officers discovered the unresponsive body of 37-year-old Herberth Ramirez-Pimentel. He was suffering from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation that followed was a joint effort between the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department, which would
eventually lead to the identification of two suspects.
Months later, the investigation culminated in arrests. A 15-year-old male from Trenton was taken into custody by a team composed of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, the Trenton Police, and the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force. He was subsequently held at the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center. Following this development, a second suspect, 26-year-old Domonic Hodges of Hamilton, was also charged in connection with the death of Ramirez-Pimentel.
Both individuals faced a litany of serious charges, including murder, felony murder, robbery, and multiple weapons offenses. At the time the charges were announced, Hodges was already being held in the Mercer County Correction Center on a parole violation. The prosecutor's office filed a motion to have him detained pending his trial for his alleged role in the events that led to the untimely death of Herberth Ramirez-Pimentel.
