Suspect faces 35 felony charges, possible death penalty

By SCOTT SMITH ASSOCIATED PRESS

10 years ago

This Thursday, July 17, 2014 booking photo provided by the Stockton Police Department shows Jaime Ramos, 19, who was booked on suspicion of homicide, kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder in a Stockton, Calif. bank robbery that led to a high speed chase. (AP Photo/Stockton Police Department)

People hold up candles during a vigil for Misty Holt-Singh in downtown Stockton, Calif., Saturday, July 19, 2014. Holt-Singh was killed during a shootout this week between bank robbers and police following a chase; the surviving suspect in the robbery, Jaime Ramos, used Holt-Singh, who had been taken as a hostage at the bank, as a human shield. (AP Photo/The Record, Clifford Otto)

Misty Holt-Singh was fatally injured during the shootout between Stockton police officers and bank robbers on Wednesday, July 16, 2014. Her daughter, Mia Singh, left, husband, Paul Sr. Singh, center and son Paul Singh Jr. speak at a news conference held by the Holt-Singh family on Friday, July 18, 2014 in Stockton, Calif. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Brian Nguyen)

Stockton resident Sue Hendricks holds up her candle at a vigil held for Misty Holt-Singh at the University Waterfront Plaza Hotel in downtown Stockton, CA. Saturday July 19, 2014. Misty Holt-Singh was taken hostage in a foiled bank robbery then killed after a police pursuit ended in gunfire. (AP Photo/The Record, Clifford Oto)

STOCKTON, Calif. — A 19-year-old California man was charged Monday with three counts of murder in the deaths of a hostage and two accomplices, and 22 counts of attempted murder of police officers in a bank robbery and running gun battle.

A judge read a total of 35 felony counts to defendant Jaime Ramos stemming from the robbery on Wednesday at a Bank of the West in Stockton.

The charges, including kidnapping, robbery and being a gang member, could make Ramos eligible for the death sentence if convicted.

Ramos sat quietly in court holding a copy of the criminal complaint and nodded his head when San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Franklin Stephenson asked if Ramos understood his rights.

Ramos did not enter a plea and the judge ordered him back to court on Aug. 18. Ramos remains in jail with no bail set.

Deputy Public Defender Jonathan Fattarsi, who represents Ramos, said after the hearing that he had only spoken briefly with his client and did not elaborate.

After the brief hearing, Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau said more charges might be filed.

“The investigation continues,” Himelblau said. “There might be a fourth person we’re interested in. Four people could turn into five.”

Police say three armed men entered a Bank of the West and took three women, two bank employees and a customer hostage. The pursuit and shootout followed when the robbers fled with the hostages in an SUV owned by one of the employees.

Police say Ramos used 41-year-old Misty Holt-Singh as a human shield. She died in the incident.

Two other women were injured but survived after being thrown from the moving vehicle or jumping out.

The two slain bank robbers have been identified as 27-year-old Alex Gregory Martinez and 30-year-old Gilbert Renteria Jr.

Investigators have linked Martinez to a Jan. 31 robbery at the same bank branch through surveillance video, witness statements and comparable circumstances.

Police have recovered a dark-colored Buick sedan seen on video dropping off the suspects in last week’s robbery. The car had no license plates and was found abandoned in a neighborhood about a 10-minute drive from the bank. The driver is the subject of an active search, police said.

Relatives have said they believe police acted appropriately by engaging the men in a gunbattle, but they struggle to understand what the men were thinking.

Holt-Singh left behind a husband and two children, 12 and 19.