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Homicide victim had been deported five months ago

“(They) punched my friend in the face with a bat,”Alejandro Ramierez told dispatchers, according to a recording of the 911 call.

Staff photo by Nick Graham “(They) punched my friend in the face with a bat,”Alejandro Ramierez told dispatchers, according to a recording of the 911 call.

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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer Updated 7:11 AM Friday, July 16, 2010

HAMILTON — Nickolas Mendoza said Samual Baez-Rosa, who he knew as Hermino Romero, didn’t get into a lot of trouble. He didn’t do drugs, Mendoza said.

His only run-in with the law was getting deported back to Mexico five months ago, Mendoza said. He returned to Hamilton within a month.

Baez-Rosa was attacked with a baseball bat in his Ludlow Street home Wednesday night, July 14, and died Thursday morning from his injuries. Police are seeking two suspects, a white male and female.

Mendoza said he first met Baez-Rosa roughly six years ago in Mexico, where he said Baez-Rosa has a wife and children. He doesn’t know how many children.

“It’s no good,” Mendoza said, shaking his head, when asked how he felt about his friend’s death. He did not know who committed the crime.

Baez-Rosa has no prior criminal history, according to Hamilton police spokesman Officer Richard Burkhardt.

Suspect descriptions

Police have released descriptions of a man and woman believed to be involved in the attack.

Both suspects are white and in their mid-20s to early 30s, police say. The man stands roughly 5-foot, 10 inches in height, has a thin build and blonde hair. At the time of the offense, police say he was wearing a three-quarter length T-shirt with writing on the front and calf-length blue jean shorts.

The woman has a heavy build and blonde hair, police say. She was wearing a white T-shirt with printing on the front and either black or gray Capri jeans, police said, adding that witnesses stated that the female was able to communicate in Spanish.

Officers and detectives were at the scene of the crime Thursday interviewing others who apparently lived with Baez-Rosa.

Mendoza said four or five people lived in the house at 807 Ludlow. No one answered the door after police left.

‘Mexicans are always getting robbed here’

Euvonda Martinez, 38, lives up the street from the house. She said undocumented Hispanics are frequently victims of robberies and other crimes in the neighborhood.

“Mexicans are always getting robbed here,” she said. “They know they’re not going to call the cops because of the sheriff.”

She said that because of Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones’ repeated call for stiff enforcement of immigration laws, she’ll be surprised if people on the street cooperate with the homicide investigation.

She and others said this even hurts how much the Hispanic community trusts Hamilton police.

“It doesn’t matter (who’s investigating the crime) because when you get arrested here, you always go straight to the sheriff, and immigration will put a hold on you and they’ll deport you,” she said.

“They’re afraid to call the cops,” agreed fellow neighbor Jessica Renfro, 22.

Burkhardt said Hamilton police do not turn people over to the sheriff’s office or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said detectives have spoken to several people in this case who admitted to being in the country illegally, and let them go.

“If they come up (to speak to police) there’s going to be no repercussions from the Hamilton police department or nothing,” he said. “If somebody comes up to our department and they speak to us, we’re not going to refer them to the sheriff’s department.”

Witness reports

Brandie Gutierrez, 18, lives in the house next door to Baez-Rosa. She said she did not hear the incident, but came outside once police arrived Wednesday.

Gutierrez said she wound up translating for police with Alejandro Ramirez, Baez-Rosa’s roommate.

According to Gutierrez’s translation of Ramirez’s story, a white male came to the door and asked for several people who did not live there. The man left after being told no one by that name lived there.

Ramirez said a few minutes later, a white female who apparently knew Baez-Rosa came to the door, she said. When Baez-Rosa answered, the man who had been there before was standing with her, Gutierrez said.

The two began asking Baez-Rosa for money, and that’s when the man attacked Baez-Rosa with the baseball bat, Gutierrez said.

Police say Ramirez heard his friend yelling for help. Ramirez, 28, told police he ran up to the door and was hit in the head with the bat by the man. The two then ran off, and Ramirez called police at about 11 p.m.

“(They) punched my friend in the face with a bat,” Ramirez told dispatchers, according to a recording of the 911 call.

Much of the call was spent with the dispatcher trying to understand Ramirez’s Spanish accent as he tried to give his address.

Ramirez refused treatment, and his injuries were minor, police said.

Gutierrez said she was surprised to have something like this happen so close to her house; usually it’s several blocks away.

“I get scared because I have a lot of children (living here),” Gutierrez said while sitting on the porch of her home where children’s toys littered the yard.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.

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