An East Dallas family is mourning the death of a man who was shot and killed while chasing a group of car robbers.
Dallas police say 24-year-old Marco Ramirez was shot to death around 4 a.m. on Nov. 14 near the 5300 block of Parry Avenue. Investigators told NBC 5 that Ramirez was chasing robbers who had stolen his father's truck when he was shot.
Hours after the incident, bullet holes were found in the front of another truck owned by the victim's sister, Carla Ramirez. The front of her car was dented where she tried to ram the robbers to stop them from stealing her father's truck.
In the end, she lost something more important.
“My brother was a very caring, loving person, not selfish or selfish,” Ramirez said. “He was always looking out for everyone.”
Carla Ramirez told NBC 5 that her family woke up before sunrise to the sound of thieves stealing her father's truck outside their home.
“Then my first instinct was to get up, go get the keys to the truck and follow him,” Ramirez said.
Carla Ramirez said she chased the suspect in her truck and eventually returned to her parents' home. There, Ramirez and her brother Marco stopped her suspects in their vehicle, she said. Marco then went outside and started firing at the thieves.
“And I thought I had them and I was trying to get back to the truck so I could go after them and do whatever I had to do,” Carla Ramirez said. “Then I turned around and saw his brother on the floor.”
Marco Ramirez was shot. Her sister told NBC 5 all she could do was watch as her son lay unresponsive in her arms.
Ramirez later died at a nearby hospital, police said.
“I'm a single mom, and he basically helps me raise my children,” Carla Ramirez said. “That's why it's so difficult.”
Dallas police later announced that the family had recovered the stolen truck and are now investigating Ramirez's death as a homicide.
For now, the family is waiting for Marco's killer to be taken off the streets.
“We definitely want justice,” Carla Ramirez said. “It's hard for me and it's hard for my kids because they won't see their uncle anymore.”
Police are asking anyone who knows anything about this incident to come forward and speak with detectives.
DPD Detective Michael Christian can be reached at 469-670-4735 or Michael.christian@dallaspolice.gov.
