Published: 05.09.2007
Mexican charged in traffic death of woman on O'odham land
DAVID L. TEIBEL
Tucson Citizen
A Mexican man has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the traffic death of a woman last month on the Tohono O'odham Nation, a tribal police detective said this morning.
Susan Bieger-Sharkus, 53, was on her way to Rocky Point when she was fatally broadsided by a pickup hauling 1,500 pounds of marijuana, said Detective Marty Fuentes, head of the Tohono O'odham police vehicular offenses detail.
Jose Miguel Ramirez-Soto, 22, of Culiacan, Mexico, was charged with murder under the felony murder law, which allows for such a charge if someone dies during the commission of certain crimes, such as drug smuggling, even if the person charged was not the actual killer.
Bieger-Sharkus had been driving West Ajo Highway around 5:45 p.m. April 27 when the pickup ran the stop sign at the Federal Route 1 intersection and struck her car, Fuentes said.
Ramirez-Soto was a passenger in the truck believed to have been driven by a relative, Fuentes said. The Tucson Citizen is neither naming the driver nor another passenger, both thought to be hiding in Mexico, as they have not been charged in the case. All three men are believed to have been in the United States illegally, Fuentes said.
Though the trio fled the collision, Ramirez-Soto's injuries prevented his getaway.
He was arrested about 3 pm. Tuesday upon release from Maricopa Medical Center in the Phoenix area and taken to Pima County Jail, Fuentes said.
In addition to the murder charge, Ramirez-Soto also has been booked on suspicion of transportation of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, Fuentes said.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/51074.php

Published: 05.09.2007

Passenger in truck that killed woman arrested
By Dale Quinn
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A passenger in a truck hauling 66 bales of marijuana through the Tohono O'odham Nation was arrested Tuesday afternoon for his part in a fatal collision that killed a Tucson woman, an official said.

Jose Miguel Ramirez-Soto, 22, was booked into Pima County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, said Detective Marty Fuentes, the vehicular offenses supervisor for the Tohono O'odham Police Department.

The felony murder rule allows suspects to be charged with murder if a person dies during the commission of certain felonies.

Ramirez-Soto was also arrested on suspicion of a drug violation and for possession of drug paraphernalia, according to jail records.

Ramirez-Soto, a Mexican citizen, was in a Chevrolet pickup truck reported stolen from California. The truck ran a stop sign at Arizona 86 and Federal Route 1, about three miles outside of Why, Fuentes said. Why is roughly 120 miles west of Tucson.

Susan Bieger, 53, was killed when the truck broadsided her car. She was headed for a weekend stay in Puerto Peñasco, where she and her husband own a home, Fuentes said.

The driver of the pickup truck and another passenger fled from the scene of the 5:45 p.m. crash. Investigators have leads on who the driver might be, Fuentes said, but aren't ready to release the information. They suspect he is a drug smuggler who will return to othe United States.

Police suspect the other passenger is Ramirez-Soto's 19-year-old brother, Eduardo Ramirez-Soto. He fled to Mexico, Fuentes said.

Jose Ramirez-Soto didn't make it far from the crash because he suffered serious injuries, Fuentes said. He was taken to a Phoenix hospital and arrested upon his release.

Police found 66 bales of marijuana that spilled from the stolen truck. Each bale weighed about 25 pounds and police recovered 1,401 pounds of the drug, Fuentes said.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/182287