Ramirez Gonzalez
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s office was forced to release a probable cause affidavit for a fatal stabbing in April that civil attorneys with the District Attorney’s Office had previously sought to keep secret from the public through a request for an opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
The Monitor filed a public information request for the affidavit following the arrest of 30-year-old Edinburg resident Jesus Francisco Ramirez Gonzalez, who is accused of fatally stabbing 49-year-old Elias Aguilar on April 8.
But the county refused to release the document and instead asked the AG for an opinion. In the request to the AG, the attorneys had asked that the affidavit be shielded from public view because it contained information about an unidentified minor who witnessed the crime.
The AG ruled against the county and the sheriff’s office released the affidavit to the newspaper on Friday.
While the AG usually sides with the attorneys, in this instance, the argument that the affidavit contained information used to develop an investigation into the abuse or neglect of the unidentified minor, which is protected by Texas Family Code, was not successful.
The affidavit provides some new information about the fatal stabbing, which occurred at approximately 9:46 p.m. that day in the 6300 block of Allegiant Street in rural Edinburg.
When deputies arrived, they found Aguilar lying on the roadway with a stab wound. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m.
During the investigation, a 14-year-old told deputies that he saw two men fighting on the roadway. One of the men, who was wearing a red shirt, appeared to stab the other man, who collapsed, according to the affidavit.
“He went to check on the collapsed male and saw he had a stab wound,” the affidavit stated.
Investigators learned the man in the red shirt was nicknamed “Chuy” and had been staying with a friend in the area, and law enforcement records revealed Chuy was Ramirez, according to the affidavit, which also said that the teen identified the suspect from a photo lineup.
During Ramirez’s first appearance in the courtroom at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center, he claimed self defense following an altercation at Aguilar’s home.
He told a judge that his neighbor, who was an alleged cocaine dealer, wouldn’t let him sleep on weekends because of loud music and a constant flow of visitors.
Ramirez said during that hearing that he confronted Aguilar, who the suspect said threatened him, and a struggle ensued.
“I reacted the way I reacted,” Ramirez said in Spanish.
A Hidalgo County grand jury on June 2 indicted Ramirez on a charge of murder.
He had been scheduled to appear for an arraignment on the indictment in early July, but his attorney instead filed a waiver of arraignment Thursday, entering a not guilty plea on behalf of his client.
Ramirez remained jailed Friday at the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a $1 million bond, records show.
