Guilty verdict for 2015 shooting outside Casino Road apartment

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 15, 2016

EVERETT — A Snohomish County jury wasn’t persuaded that Carlos Lara-Ramos’s death was an accident. They were convinced it was premeditated murder.

Lara-Ramos, 28, was shot to death last year outside the Arterra Apartments on W. Casino Road in Everett. Jurors heard the call he made to 911, reporting that a man was pointing a gun at him. Lara-Ramos was still on the phone with a dispatcher when he was shot in the chest. The call recorded the injured man groaning and gasping. Witnesses can be heard screaming for help.

On Monday, jurors convicted Alexander Sandoval-Ortiz of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon for the June 16, 2015, slaying. Sandoval-Ortiz was ordered held without bail. He faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison for the killing.

His defense attorney, Caroline Mann, never disputed that her client was behind the deadly shot. She argued that the shooting was an accident. The gun went off when the two men were shoving each other, she argued. Her client didn’t plan to kill Lara-Ramos, Mann said.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Halley Hupp told jurors that the defendant, 35, set in motion his plan to kill Lara-Ramos long before the parking lot confrontation. He also had plenty of time to change his mind when Lara-Ramos dialed 911, reporting that the defendant was pointing a gun at him.

That call lasted 25 seconds, jurors were told.

Hupp alleged the deadly confrontation was motivated by jealousy.

Sandoval-Ortiz found out that his ex-girlfriend had gone back to Lara-Ramos. He had threatened to kill the woman and any new beau if she cheated on him.

The woman sold the defendant some fake drugs about a week before the shooting. He was upset with the woman and started texting her again. The woman told Sandoval-Ortiz a series of lies, including allegations that Lara-Ramos robbed her. She later made up an elaborate story about Lara-Ramos assaulting and kidnapping her.

Sandoval-Ortiz was concerned and started looking for the woman. He later contacted police, showing them the woman’s text messages. Police tried to call the woman and attempted to locate her through cellphone records.

An officer finally reached the woman by phone. She told the officer she was OK. She said she’d made up the story. The officer relayed the message to Sandoval-Ortiz.

Mann told jurors that her client wanted to confront Lara-Ramos about the ruse. He happened upon him when he and another man drove to south Everett to sell a gun.

Hupp alleged that Sandoval-Ortiz was looking for the victim and waited nearly an hour until he came downstairs.

Sandoval-Ortiz is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 7.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.