On December 1, 2017, at 1:28 p.m., SAPD Officers responded to the 1900 block of W. Myrtle Street regarding reports of a male down. When officers arrived, they located a victim, 36-year-old Mariano Labra Ramos, suffering from gunshot wounds. Orange County Fire Authority transported the victim to a local trauma center where he later succumbed to his injuries.
SAPD Homicide Detectives conducted an investigation which revealed four subjects from a criminal street gang drove into a rival gang territory on W. Myrtle St. Alexis Ascencion (25) exited the suspect vehicle and ran into an apartment courtyard at 1909 W. Myrtle St. Ascencion, armed with a handgun, fired two shots at two men standing in a walkway. One of the victims, later identified as decedent Ramos, was shot twice in the leg. Ascencion ran back to the waiting suspect vehicle and fled the area. The suspects targeted the victims whom they believed were rival gang members. However, the investigation revealed the victims were simply residents of the neighborhood and had no gang ties.
On December 2, 2017, SAPD Officers arrested Ascencion for the homicide. Detectives identified Felix Martinez Vargas (26) as the driver of the suspect vehicle and determined two juveniles (15 and 16 years old) were occupants. In prior criminal proceedings related to the homicide, Vargas was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and one of the juveniles was convicted of attempted murder.
On February 1, 2024, Ascencion stood trial in Orange County Superior Court, Central Justice Center, Department C45. On February 15, 2024, he was convicted by a jury of PC 187(a) - 1st Degree Murder, with sentencing enhancements for the use of a firearm, and for committing a homicide for the benefit of a criminal street gang. He remains in custody and will be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for April 5, 2024.
