Posted on 04/02/2007 5:28:51 PM PDT by csvset
VIRGINIA BEACH – A man accused of killing two high school students Friday night in a car crash has a substantial record of alcohol-related convictions in both Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Alfredo Ramos, charged with manslaughter in the Friday deaths of Allison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16, was convicted this year of DUI in Chesapeake and of public intoxication at the Beach.
Ramos, who admitted in court Monday that he is in the country illegally, also was convicted in Chesapeake last year of public drunkenness.
Two 2007 Chesapeake convictions – a seat belt violation and identify theft – appear not to be alcohol-related.
Additional Chesapeake charges – driving without a license and having no insurance – were withdrawn earlier this year.
On Monday morning, Ramos, 22, was arraigned on the manslaughter charges in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court .
His 25-year-old brother, who lives in Norfolk, also is here illegally and asked not to be identified because of his immigration status. He said he had talked to his brother by phone Friday before the accident and, after learning he had been drinking, warned Ramos not to drive. Afterward, his brother told him he had no memory of the crash. He learned from authorities that he had killed two people, his brother said.
Ramos, who was born in Mexico of Guatemalan parents, has been in the U.S. for about seven years
Most recently, Ramos was employed as a waiter at Mi Casita, a popular Mexican restaurant on Bonney Road in Virginia Beach.
Police said speed and alcohol were factors in Friday’s accident, which occurred at Kings Grant and Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said a 1998 two-door Mitsubishi, driven by Ramos, was westbound on Virginia Beach Boulevard when it crashed into the rear of a 1994 Plymouth driven by Kunhardt.
The Plymouth was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection, Barnes said.
Kunhardt and Tranchant were pinned in the wreckage and had to be cut free before paramedics could tend to them.
One of the girls died at the scene; the other was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a hospital, Barnes said. Both had been wearing seat belts, he said.
Ramos also was wearing a seat belt and suffered only minor injuries, Barnes said.
On Monday, friends and family of the two victims were planning a vigil for tonight at Mount Trashmore.
Scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., the candlelight ceremony will be held on the Independence Boulevard side of the park. Classmates, family and friends have been invited to attend.
Janice Lane, a minister and Kunhardt’s aunt, will lead a short service.
Kunhardt was a junior at First Colonial High School. Tranchant, her close friend, was a freshman at Kellam High School.
First Colonial Principal Dale Holt said the school has canceled plans to host the “Every 15 Minutes” program on Wednesday and Thursday. The program raises awareness of drunk driving by removing a student from class every 15 minutes as if they had been killed.
“Our kids are living 'Every 15 Minutes’ as we speak,” Holt said Monday.
At Kellm High School, programs on drunk driving already planned for April and May will go on as scheduled, administrators said.
Ramos is scheduled to appear this morning in front of Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Deborah Rawls for a bond hearing.
Ramos faces deportation if he’s convicted, according to U.S. immigration laws. People who are deported for criminal convictions have either committed felonies or “crimes of moral turpitude,” including crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape and most theft crimes, U.S. immigration law states.
Staff writers Duane Bourne and Lauren Roth contributed to this report.
I'm not sure why. I do hope they keep him locked up though. He sure as hell doesn't deserve to be out and about.
His 25-year-old brother, who lives in Norfolk, also is here illegally and asked not to be identified because of his immigration status.
I do hope the authorities are tracking down his brother.
I disagree........
The reason I disagree is that US taxpayers will again be footing the bill. Deprt his butt and do so ASAP.
and again nations are born again or nations die........
very few second, or third chances, after the game and fog begins.
The victory belongs to the swift
Excuse me, but I'm gonna sit this one out....
my back hurts, I'm old, I'm senile, will any of those
let me sit it out?
See....? the enemy has already defeated me........
I'd like to know the rest of my fellow Americans are ready?
Even though, I'm beat......
My partners and I are real estate developers, and we hire NO illegals, period. Merlin.com subscribers can check almost anyone out in a few minutes. Illegals are also highly prone to accidents, and do shoddy work.
Bartering is great for small businesspeople.
I know, which is why I am so bent out of shape about it.
The south and midwest is starting to get hit real hard. N C especially.
you make many understatements! lol, illegals do horrible work, and by definition, have no respect for laws, and no desire to “conform.” i own a landscaping business, and i hire NO illegals, but i have to compete with them. other companies hire them, train them, then they go out on their own, under bid us all, pay no taxes, and give the industry a bad name. bad news all around.
Just an excuse to hire illegal labor : )
You’ve got that right.
The guy that’s going to come by here with his tractor and whip up my 1/2 acre veggie plat isn’t going to say anything about anything to anyone, and nor are we for putting up his new seamless raingutters.
A buddy of mine is in the hospital right now with a broken leg and other injuries after being T-boned by a stop sign runner. You guessed, an illegal alien with an arrest record and no insurance.
Deported? Exactly what would happen to him if he was deported? Would he just be dumped on the streets in his home country, only to be free to sneak back into ours and resume his law-breaking life?
I try not to think about this too much, it can drive a person crazy
I figure it costs us only 4% more to hire AMERICANS.
Here is why:
1) Most of the Americans are skilled, work faster and safer. Therefore, I save big on workmans comp and other liability insurance.
2) The American workers confine their “party time” to the weekends, so the hangover problem is moot, they do GOOD quality work!
3) I keep the same workers from project to project.
I have done plenty of bartering over 20 years.
If you can pull it off, I will send you a check!!
Happens many times every day. We only hear about the murders. I have been rear ended by an illegal too!
Bump for later.
I know what you mean. Thinking about it too much also makes me so angry that I'm afraid I'm going to give myself a stroke or somethin'. LOL.
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