SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An anguished mother is making a plea for information, days after her son was gunned down on a street in Linda Vista.
“All I know is I lost my baby. I lost my baby,” said a tearful Vicky Avila.
Four days later, Avila remains lost in grief.
Early Sunday morning, she couldn't reach her son, 41-year-old Johnny Ramirez, who was homeless. She started looking for him and just before 5 a.m., she found him—on UIrich Street.
“I tried to get him up,” said Avila.
Avila says she found her son, shot in the back. The 911 dispatcher helped her perform CPR, but he was cold to the touch. Ramirez would die at the scene.
“I know he’s out there, whoever did this. To me, it was cowardly, because they shot him in the back,” said Avila.
Avila says her son, who has five children, had gang ties in his youth and was turning his life around. He was staying out of trouble and had started looking for jobs.
“Trying to be a better person, trying to change. That way, he could be with kids more, spend more time with them,” said Avila. “He was funny and was always willing to help people out.”
Amid the search for his killer, his final days may hold clues. Avila says five days before the shooting, her son received medical treatment for a stab wound in his arm, but refused to reveal who stabbed him.
Loved ones are making a public a plea for tips.
“Somebody knows something. I just want justice for my baby, because he didn't have to go out like this. It was just wrong,” said Avila.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the SDPD Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
A Gofundme campaignhas been set up to help family with expenses.
