From the Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) Wall
http://www.pomc.org/murderwallstories/matthew_ramirez.cfm
Matthew “Mikey” “Bobo” Ramirez
16 Years Old
June 20, 1989 to February 27, 2006
Matthew was born in Chicago the only child of a single mom. From infancy it was obvious food would be a big part of his life (his father was a chef). He was crying as he was given that nasty old bottle of milk when we were eating real food. He loved to spend most of his time with Grandma in the kitchen cooking right along with her. The other half was playing Fireman like Grandpa-the one who named him Mikey after his own middle name.
Mikey did not have a father but he had a mom, grandma, grandpa, and two uncles who all pitched in to make sure that was not a loss to him. He was a happy child and loved animals. When he was almost 6 a stepfather came into the picture, he was the only man he ever called Dad. He treated Mikey like his own son and even after the breakup of our little family, they remained in touch thru walkie talkie phones. Mikey had written a poem to his real father that said he never needed him, what we all had given him in love was enough for him and his stepdad was the only father he needed.
Growing up was all CHICAGO BULLS! My son was lucky to be old enough to be a part of that magic Michael Jordan time. His room was all Bulls and playing b-ball was a love of his. He also loved his music. Some people were amazed at his varied tastes. Of course hip/hop-rap was #1, but he also was into Caruso, Neil Diamond, and classic rock too. He loved video games and his XBOX still sits ready for him to play-it will always be there setup on his family room TV. His neon Homer Simpson light sits overlooking his chair-just waiting for him to play again. He loved to dance and I can still see him doing the “rockaway” all over the house.
Mikey had always wanted siblings and was joyous as thru the years he was blessed that his 2 uncles produced 12 cousins for him. He adored his baby girl cousins. He was always holding and feeding them. He really wanted to be a dad one day. His friends called him brother, they all miss him. The girls especially miss the protection he always offered as a champion of women and those big hugs he would give to comfort them. Big brother, loving son and grandson, cousin, future fireman and chef all gone forever. I miss my “baby” every day and cannot wait to be with him again.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE MURDER
Matthew was murdered in Chicago 1/2 block from his home.
On Feb. 24, 2006, Matthew was coming home from a friends house 2 blocks away at about 9:30 PM on a Friday night. He was coming in early as he had to work the next day, he was hungry and wanted to eat and go to bed. Little did he know a maroon SUV was cruising our neighborhood with 2 passengers who were shouting gang sayings and chasing down all young males they encountered. They saw him walking down a sidestreet, pulled past him into the alley and parked. Then Christopher Sodero aged 15 at the time got out of the SUV and came around the corner. He came at Matthew who saw the gun and froze. He then took aim and shot him thru the right eye right thru his eyeglass lense. Matthew was rushed to the hospital-his only ambulance ride in his life where he was not a ridealong learning his future job, but a victim. 1 1/2 blocks away and 2 minutes later another man was shot by someone in that same SUV. Matthew remained in a coma for 3 days before he succumbed to his injury. Police had eyewitnesses to the shooting, but the judge chose not to believe them as they were in a gang. Sodero was set free in July 2008, within 2 months he was in a gang altercation on a Sunday morning at 7 am in a neighborhood in which he did not live and killed by a rival gangmember. It was determined by witnesses he was the aggressor in that fight. The police have not apprehended anyone in his murder and do not plan to. JUSTICE SERVED!
Matthew Michael Ramirez RIP 16. 6/20/89—-2/27/06. Murdered by a 15 year old who was let go by a judge at 17.
