Details emerge in Northwest Side death
Man killed woman, slept near body, prosecutors say

By Azam Ahmed | Tribune staff reporter
8:57 PM CDT, July 24, 2007
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E-mail Print Single page view Reprints text size: Jesus Ramirez strangled the daughter of his former girlfriend, then placed her body on his bed and slept there for two nights, prosecutors alleged Tuesday.

Family members have said Ramirez was infatuated with Deena David, 35, and had previously threatened her life.

Cook County Circuit Judge Laura Sullivan ordered that Ramirez, 49, be held without bail Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder. Ramirez was caught at O'Hare International Airport with a one-way ticket to Mexico an hour before the flight was to depart.

Jesus Ramirez Photo

An interpreter translated for Ramirez, who stood motionless during the proceedings.
Prosecutors said Ramirez punched and choked David after the two quarreled at his Northwest Side apartment Wednesday night. Assistant State's Atty. Catherine Malloy said Ramirez gave a videotaped confession admitting to the murder. In his statement, Ramirez said David bit him, and a police photo showed bite marks on Ramirez's right thumb, she said.

After killing David, Ramirez dressed her in a white shirt and jeans, placed the body in his bed and laid down beside her, Malloy said."The defendant told her [David] that he loved her and that he was keeping her body," the prosecutor told the judge.

After sleeping next to the body for two nights, Ramirez put the decomposing corpse in a plastic bag and placed it in his bedroom closet, Malloy said..

Defense attorney Jacqueline Ross said Ramirez had worked at an O'Hare warehouse for 28 years. The case began as a missing-person investigation Saturday after Ramirez's daughter, Maria, reported David, her half-sister, missing since late Wednesday. David and Maria Ramirez had the same mother.

"It's good they charged him with first-degree murder," said Jose Martinez, David's boyfriend of six years. "I'm just trying my best to hold myself strong. We're going to feel much better once this is all over. "

aahmed@tribune.com

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