Oliva Jarquin Pena
A Criminal Court jury has found Jose Angel Rios Ramirez guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the strangling of his girlfriend, Oliva Jarquin Pena.
District Attorney Coty Wamp said, "Oliva was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Assistant District Attorneys Aaron Chaplin and Andrew Basler fought for Oliva as a victim of domestic violence who unfortunately was not able to fight for herself.
They represented the state of Tennessee well and I am so very proud of their commitment to this case. Because of their work, Oliva did not fall through the cracks.
"The defendant shouldn’t have even been in our country - much less committing violent crimes against women."
Ramirez, 21, had admitted to strangling his girlfriend at a Brainerd residence, then going to sleep with her and finding the next morning that she was dead.
At 7:47 p.m., police were dispatched to 5111 Sunbeam Ave. on an unconscious person call. They located Ms. Pena unresponsive in the bed.
Hamilton County EMS responded to the scene and pronounced Ms. Pena deceased.
Ramirez was taken in for questioning, and he said he and Ms. Pena had been out drinking. They came home and continued to drink.
He said Ms. Pena was upset with him over his involvement with other women. He said they argued for a while.
Ramirez said he then strangled her with his arm from behind. When she stopped talking, he said he went to sleep next to her.
When he woke up the next morning he called a man and asked him to come over because Ms. Pena was deceased.
Ramirez then called police.
Jose Angel Rios Ramirez