Documents: Murder suspect tried to pin killing of Horizon City man on fictitious suspect
Editor’s Note: On May 2, 2018, Miguel Angel Ontiveros pleaded guilty to murder charges. Ontiveros, a long with with two other suspects, were originally charged with Capital Murder but the charges were downgraded.
Criminal complaint affidavits obtained by ABC-7 reveal the man shot and killed in Horizon City was allegedly involved in a drug deal with the three suspects arrested in connection to his murder.
Shawn Ezal Ramirez, 21; and Miguel Angel Ontiveros, 22, were booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility without bond. Marcos Damian Porras, 23, was booked into the Doña Ana Detention Facility without bond. All three suspects are charged with Capital Murder.
At approximately 11:06 pm on November 4, 2017, the Horizon City Police Department was dispatched to the McDonald`s parking lot at 13990 Horizon Boulevard in reference to an unconscious male. When the police officers arrived, they found Erik Aragon suffering from a gunshot wound to the face. Paramedics rushed Aragon to Del Sol Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on November 5, 2017.
A criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states suspect Ramirez walked into the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office headquarters on November 7, 2017. Ramirez told detectives he was being accused, on Facebook, of killing Aragon and he wanted to explain what really happened.
In a recorded interview, Ramirez allegedly admitted to meeting Aragon for the purchase of a “brick of marijuana.” According to the affidavit, Ramirez said he was the driver of the vehicle Aragon entered, but denied being the shooter. Ramirez claimed a passenger riding in the backseat was the one who shot Aragon in the face. When detectives asked who the rear passenger was, Ramirez only provided them with an alias and could not provide a real name, address or any other information that detectives could use to identify the shooter.
Ramirez allegedly told detectives he threw Aragon out of his car after Aragon was shot in the face and later washed and cleaned his car to eliminate any trace of Aragon’s blood. Detectives executed a search warrant for Ramirez’s vehicle and forensic investigators allegedly found traces of blood inside.
Detectives also obtained search warrants for Ramirez’s cell phone, a pair of red boots and a pair of jeans, “all of which appeared to have the suspected blood of the (victim),” the criminal complaint states. The document further states the blood splatter on Ramirez’s clothes was not consistent with Ramirez’s claim he was in the driver’s seat when Aragon was shot in the back seat.
Detectives later met with a witness who allegedly said she spoke with Ramirez after the killing. The witness said Ramirez confessed to shooting and killing Aragon and that suspect Porras was actually the driver of the vehicle. Investigators also sought the help of the El Paso Fusion Center in order to identify a man seen in a photo on Ramirez’s Facebook page. Investigators later identified the man seen in the photo as suspect Ontiveros.
When detectives spoke with Ontiveros, the suspect allegedly said Ramirez met with Aragon to purchase the marijuana. At first, Ontiveros told detectives the same story as Ramirez, claiming a third suspect in the backseat shot and killed Aragon. However, Ontiveros later changed his story to claim Ramirez was the back seat passenger who shot and killed Aragon, the document states.
Ontiveros allegedly told detectives Ramirez pulled out a black handgun and demanded that Aragon empty his pockets of everything else. Ramirez, Ontiveros allegedly said, shot Aragon in the face, exited the vehicle and pulled Aragon out of the vehicle. Ontiveros allegedly admitted to helping Ramirez clean the blood out of the vehicle with Clorox.
Ontiveros told detectives he and Ramirez normally robbed other individuals during drug transactions. Detectives obtained a search warrant for Ontiveros’ cell phone and allegedly recovered a video, dated November 4, 2017, that allegedly shows Ramirez, Ontiveros and Porras in front of a mirror. The video allegedly shows Ramirez holding and brandishing a black handgun, the court document states. The video was allegedly recorded three hours before Aragon was murdered.
The criminal complaint states Ramirez is a confirmed member of a criminal street gang known as “Gangster Disciples” and has been known to carry out threats using firearms.
ABC-7 is working to obtained the criminal compliant filed for Porras to learn more about his alleged involvement in the murder of Aragon.
