NEW YEAR’S EVE MURDER SUSPECT GETS 55 YEARS IN PRISON

  

A Brazos County man will be spending 55 years in prison after pleading guilty to a New Year’s Eve murder charge.

The Brazos County District Attorney’s Office announced that Ricardo Ramirez pled guilty today (Monday) to the December 31, 2019 murder of 20-year-old Ashli Stewart.

According to the D.A.’s Office, Stewart and her roommates were hanging out and watching movies. The roommates left that afternoon for a dance practice, but Stewart, who was feeling ill, decided to stay home.

When the roommates returned less than two hours later, they found Stewart in the doorway to her room with multiple stab wounds.

A witness at the apartment complex provided the description of a man seen leaving the apartment and carrying something pink around the time of the murder. One of the roommates also reported missing a firearm.

During their investigation, College Station Police learned that Ramirez had a previous relationship with one of the roommates and had been arrested at the same apartment complex on drug charges months earlier.

Traffic camera footage showed Ramirez’s truck going through an intersection near Stewart’s apartment complex at the time of the murder.

Ramirez was located at a different apartment complex on January 7, 2020.  A search of his vehicle found the stolen firearm, a knife that was later confirmed to have Stewart’s blood on it, and a pink towel that was taken from her bedroom.

A search of Ramirez’s I-Pad also found news articles about the Stewart’s murder and the funeral arrangements.

Assistant District Attorneys Brian Price and Amy Eades, who prosecuted the case, thanked the College Station Police Department for their efforts to bring Stewart’s killer to justice.