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3 Men Charged With Fatally Beating Marine Reservist Outside Old Pasadena Restaurant
Gavel (Photo by Daniel Wiedemann via Shutterstock)
Three men were charged in the fatal beating of a Marine reservist who had served in Afghanistan. Joshua Martinez, 25, died a day after getting into a fight outside of the restaurant ix Tapa Cantina in Old Pasadena. A fight broke out early Monday morning between two groups of people inside the restaurant, and they were both asked to leave, the Pasadena Star-News reported.
It happened fast: Pasadena police got a call about an unruly subject in the restaurant and 50 seconds later, they received a call that a man was unconscious, City News Service reported.
A dash-cam captured the blow on video. Martinez was on the sidewalk but after getting decked, he falls off the curb and lands on his head. His head injuries were critical, and he died at a hospital on Tuesday:
Today the men involved in the fight were charged, CNS reported. Jonas Cardenas Ramos, 24, and Angel Christopher Moroyoqui, 21, were both charged with assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and they pleaded not guilty in court today. Fernando Sabino Ramirez, 25, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, but he is due in court Thursday for his arraignment. Ramirez could face up to nine years in prison in the case, while Ramos and Moroyoqui could face up to four years. A third person was arrested as an accessory but wasn't charged today.
Ramos and Moroyoqui didn't escape the fight unscathed: they had been admitted to a local hospital with stab wounds they suffered during the fight.
Martinez was an active Marine Reservist at Camp Pendleton and a friend of his who served with him said he wasn't the type to start a fight. He told ABC 7, "You go on deployment in Afghanistan where you know your life is in danger. You come home and think you're safe: Next thing you know you lose your friend in like a horrible way."
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