The family of Andres Ramirez, who was shot and killed by Santa Ana police in December, has filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit claiming that Ramirez was shot in the back of the head by police, who then fabricated a story about the victim brandishing a knife.
Ramirez, 21, was visiting relatives in Santa Ana from North Carolina. According to a Santa Ana police spokesman, officers were called to a Poplar Street neighborhood to investigate a report of gang members loitering in an alley. One of the officers encountered Ramirez, who allegedly pulled out a knife. What happened after that, the spokesman said, is still under investigation.
In the lawsuit, the family alleges that Ramirez was cooperating with police and did not have a knife. They say he was standing with his arms up when an officer came up behind him and shot him in the back of the head. A California death certificated shows that Ramirez died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Ramirez was engaged with two children at the time of his death. The family is seeking $20 million to compensate the children for the loss of their father, as well as for pain and suffering, the value of his life, and funeral expenses.
If you or a loved one is involved in an event or accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States. Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.
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