Tagger pleads guilty to manslaughter in killing of church volunteer over graffiti in Anaheim

A tagger pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter for his role in the killing of a church volunteer during a confrontation over graffiti in an Anaheim neighborhood.

Edgar Ramirez, 25, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role as an accomplice in the shooting death of 51-year-old David Douglas.

In return for Ramirez’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop first-degree murder and attempted murder charges, along with enhancements for criminal street gang activity, court records show.

In May, a Santa Ana jury found 36-year-old David Ortega – who prosecutors described as one of the gunmen in the 2015 killing – guilty of first degree murder. But jurors were unable to reach a verdict for Ramirez, who prosecutors allege aided Ortega by sending several other gang members to help back Ortega up during the fatal confrontation.

Shortly after 9 p.m. on July 19, 2015, Douglas and John Anderson, a friend and fellow volunteer in a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Anaheim, were talking in Douglas’ driveway on Lullaby Lane when they saw Ortega and Ramirez spraying gang graffiti.

Douglas and Anderson confronted Ortega and Ramirez, then followed them as they walked away. Douglas circled back to retrieve his SUV, Ramirez walked off and Ortega and Anderson began arguing. Asked by Anderson why he was vandalizing property, Ortega was accused of responding, “I own this neighborhood.”

Douglas drove up in the SUV, and as Anderson got into the passenger seat he saw Ortega walking toward him with a gun, a second man following him and a third man who stepped in front of the vehicle, preventing it from moving. At least two of the men opened fire, killing Douglas and seriously injuring Anderson.

Investigators, aided by the discovery of gang monikers in the graffiti and shoe prints taken from a patch of mud next to one of the tags, eventually identified Ortega and Ramirez as the men involved in the fatal confrontation.

During their trial, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex alleged that when Ramirez walked away prior to the fatal confrontation, he went around the corner to a house party and rallied the other gang members alleged to have backed up Ortega.

Attorney Jacob DeGrave, who represented Ramirez, acknowledged during his trial that Ramirez was involved in the tagging. But the defense attorney denied that Ramirez asked the other gang members to back up Ortega, and argued that Ramirez was nowhere near the car when the gunshots were fired.

DeGrave could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

In June, Ortega was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Douglas. During his sentencing hearing, Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. King noted that the shooting was a “mob action,” that was “nothing more or less than the leader of that mob being disrespected over paint.”

Had Ramirez been convicted of the charges he was facing at trial, he would have faced the same sentence as Ortega. According to court records, he was given credit for nearly four years already served in county jail while awaiting trial.

Douglas’ family members and friends remembered him as a mentor, a man of faith, a devoted family man and a “peacemaker” who was always the first to offer to lend a hand. A Boy Scout volunteer, Douglas on the night he was shot had just returned from a week-long camping trip.