A convicted felon and gang member was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for repeatedlyfiring a gun out a car window during a drunken, drug-fueled rage two years ago, fatally striking an innocent man sitting inside his Arlington apartment. Jurors deliberated about two hours on Friday before convicting Thomas Ramirez, Jr., 29, of murder in the August 21, 2011, death of Ivan Daniel Valenzuela.
On Monday evening, the jury deliberated about 1 ½ hours before sentencing him to the maximum
life term. He must serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole. During the trial, prosecutors Robert Huseman and Allenna Bangs presented evidence that on the afternoon of August 21, 2011, Ramirez picked up his girlfriend at her home in Dallas and headed to Arlington, where they had planned to hang out at his sister’s house.
On the freeway to Arlington, Ramirez – who was already intoxicated- was driving erratically, ranting and snorting cocaine. He drove to his sister’s house in Arlington, but Ramirez didn’t get out of the red Suburban he was driving. Instead, he left and continued driving around the neighborhood, prompting his girlfriend to get out of the Suburban at one point. Later, after his girlfriend got back in the vehicle, Ramirez pulled out a .40-caliber handgun and began randomly and recklessly shooting out the window, including firing shots on Ravinia Drive, W. Sanford Street, and Romack Court.
A short time later, police arrested Ramirez after he and his girlfriend entered an elderly couple’s home in the 400 block of Cousin’s Lane while trying to avoid capture. The next day, Valenzuela was found dead, shot in the head, in front of a window inside his apartment at 701 Oakwood Lane.
The apartment is southwest of the intersection of Oakwood Lane and W. Sanford Street, one of the locations where surveillance cameras captured Ramirez’s suburban driving by when shots were heard. that killed Valenzuela was fired from a .40-caliber handgun— the same caliber of cartridge casings found at Ravinia Drive, W. Sanford Street and Romack Court.
During the punishment phase of the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Ramirez’s lengthy criminal history, which included convictions for burglary, assault and theft. The jury also heard that he is a gang member and, while awaiting his murder trial in the Tarrant County jail, has been recruiting for his gang.
