A Feb. 24 trial date was confirmed Thursday for a Jurupa Valley man accused of severely beating his girlfriend with a tire iron, then snatching their year-old son and fleeing to another location.
Armando Julio Alvarez Ramirez, 45, is charged with attempted murder, domestic abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, child cruelty, making criminal threats and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a weapon during a felony and inflicting great bodily injury.
During a pretrial hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Thursday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding scheduling, and both sides agreed to be prepared for the start of proceedings during the last week of February. The judge set an intervening hearing for Monday to review the prosecution’s proposed list of witnesses.
Ramirez is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Miguel Ramos, shortly before 8 a.m. Aug. 15, 2022, Ramirez was involved in a dispute with his girlfriend, identified in court documents only as “D.N.,” at her residence in the 2000 block of Gail Drive in Jurupa Valley.
Ramos said Ramirez became enraged, striking the woman in the “head, face and neck … causing significant injuries.”
Court documents confirmed the weapon used was a tire iron.
Before the victim could call 911, the defendant grabbed their toddler son, Bradley, and fled in a 2000 Dodge Caravan, the sergeant alleged.
“Based on the information received by deputies, it was believed the child was in danger,” Ramos said.
An Amber Alert was issued by the California Highway Patrol, notifying the public to be on the lookout for Ramirez and his vehicle.
Within an hour, a Nuevo resident spotted Ramirez in the 22000 block of Ramona Avenue and called the sheriff’s department. Ramos said deputies converged on the location and took the defendant into custody without incident. Bradley was found unharmed and returned to his mother, who spent months recovering from her injuries.
Ramirez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.