Monday, October 17, 2011

Ramirez-Cruz And Son Taken To Philadelphia After Weekend Funeral Services In Milwaukee

Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and son, Omar.

Photo: Facebook

Maritza Ramirez-Cruz

Photo: Family

Annette Morales-Rodriguez

Mother and son were remembered during funeral services.

By H. Nelson Goodson
October 17, 2011

Milwaukee - On Monday, the bodies of the late Maritza Ramirez-Cruz, 23, and her son, Omar were transported to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for extended funeral services. Both Ramirez-Cruz and her son were remembered Friday in Milwaukee at the Witkowiak Funeral Home during funeral services held by family members in Wisconsin. The service was opened to the public.
Their bodies arrived in Pennsylvania for other family members to mourn their loss. She has a large family in the state. Ramirez-Cruz and her son will then be taken to Puerto Rico where they will remain interment.
The homicides of Ramirez-Cruz and her son were discovered by police on October 6, when they were called to a home at the 1600 block of S. 7th St. to investigate a reported death of a new born. Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 33, reported the death after admitting she had given birth. Morales-Rodriguez told police the baby had died during birth and that she didn't know that she was pregnant.
She was taken to the hospital, but refused medical attention. She was later released and returned to her home in the South side.
The Milwaukee County Medical Deputy Examiner, Dr. Wieslawa Tomak in an autopsy discovered the baby still had parts of the ovaries attached to the uterus and placenta. Dr. Tomak determined the birth was not natural, but a forced birth.
Police returned to Morales-Rodriguez residence. She was taken back to St. Francis Hospital for medical evaluation. A doctor determined that Morales-Rodriguez hadn't given birth and police arrested her after making herself bleed to fool the doctors that she was bleeding from the birth. Doctor Rachel English at St. Francis Hospital reported, that Morales-Rodriguez had superficial scratching on her vaginal walls, which caused bleeding.
On October 7, police detectives confirmed that Morales-Rodriguez wasn't the mother of a baby boy. Police returned to the home where they found the body of Ramirez-Cruz behind a heater in the basement which showed signs that her baby was savagely cut out in what police say is a rare case of child abduction. Ramirez-Cruz was expected to give birth on October 16, according to family members.
Last week, Morales-Rodriguez was charged with two counts of 1st-degree homicide, including intentional homicide of a child while armed. Bail was set at $1 million and if convicted, she is facing two life terms in prison.
The criminal complaint stated, Morales-Rodriguez went out and drove around looking for a woman that was pregnant and saw Ramirez-Cruz on S. Chase Ave. and offered her a ride. She lured Ramirez-Cruz to her South side apartment and then beat Ramirez-Cruz with a baseball bat after she came out of the bathroom. Ramirez-Cruz tried to fight back, but Morales-Rodriguez dragged her out of the bathroom.
Ramirez-Cruz was able to run to the living room and Morales-Rodriguez once again struck her in the head with the baseball bat, knocking her to the floor. Morales-Rodriguez then strangled her with both hands until Ramirez-Cruz became unconsicous. She tied Ramirez-Cruz with duct tape and place a plastic bag over her head until she was dead.
Then Morales-Rodriguez removed the unborn child from Ramirez-Cruz uterus with an Exacto knife, according to the criminal complaint.
Morales-Rodriguez wanted a boy to make her boyfriend happy. She couldn't get pregnant, so she pretended to be having a child. She became worried after the fake pregnacy was nearing the delivery date.
Her live-in boyfriend told police that he thought Morales-Rodriguez had been pregnant. Neighbors also thought she was pregnant because Morales-Rodriguez would tell them that she was about to give birth. She has three children.
Ramirez-Cruz was last seen on October 6, when she left her home. She was later reported missing by her husband Christian Mercado, according to Milwaukee police. Ramirez-Cruz also had three children.

Copy of criminal complaint (PDF) filed against Annette Morales-Rodriguez at following link: http://bit.ly/roQodX

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1 comment:

Ray said...

Eres Chingon. Good Job on the Story. Excellent Job on attaching the criminal complaint.