Inset: Mario Alejandro Ramirez (Broward County Sheriff's Office). Background: The apartment complex where Ramirez allegedly killed his pregnant wife in Oakland Park, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida man is behind bars after stabbing his pregnant wife to death earlier this week, according to law enforcement in the Sunshine State.
Mario Alejandro Ramirez, 37, stands accused of one count of murder — dangerous and depraved without premeditation, according to Broward County Sheriff's Office records.
The underlying incident occurred after midnight on Tuesday at a first-floor apartment on Northeast 41st Street in Oakland Park — a medium-sized city located just a few miles north of Fort Lauderdale.
A series of 911 calls were made as the violence unfolded, according to audio obtained by Miami-based independent TV station WPLG.
In one call, the defendant himself allegedly alerted dispatchers to the fact that there were three children inside the apartment as the "domestic dispute" became a physical altercation, authorities say.
At around 12:55 a.m., the stabbing was reported in another call.
Deputies encountered Ramirez at the apartment and struggled with him while trying to apply pressure to stanch the bleeding from an apparently self-inflicted injury, according to the sheriff's office.
Inside, fire rescue crews found Fayanni Ramirez, whose age has not been released as of this writing, suffering from multiple stab wounds. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime.
Investigators quickly confirmed the woman was pregnant and lived in the apartment with her three other children.
"It sounded like furniture, like hitting, and there was a lot of screaming," one neighbor previously told the local TV station.
Another neighbor walking past the site of the fatal stabbing said: "They opened the door and then when I walked back, like to go home, I see, like, a body laying on the floor…apparently somebody got stabbed in the neck."
In gruesome news footage of the unit taken from the outside, a splotch of a red substance appears to be dripping from a window.
At the time of the slaying, the victim had an active restraining order out against the defendant, according to law enforcement.
On Friday, Ramirez appeared in court for a bond hearing. He is represented by a public defender, Broward County records show.
The defendant is currently being detained in the Broward Main Jail without bond, WPLG reported. During the bond hearing, the judge also reportedly ordered medical and mental health evaluations.
Ramirez is also on an immigration-related detainer hold, according to the TV station.
The motive for the woman's death remains unclear, prosecutors said.
Comments