A Hialeah dentist was set to be a star witness in a trial. Then she was shot.
Carmen Ramirez was set to take the stand next month as the star witness in an Orlando identity theft case after more than $40,000 was stolen from her.
But as the Hialeah dentist walked into her office Tuesday, someone opened fire, striking her multiple times throughout her body, leaving her in critical condition, according to police.
On Friday, police said with the help of surveillance video and detective work they were able to arrest two men in connection with the shooting.
Cops say one of the men involved, Hector Ledesma, is the brother of the man on trial for the identity theft. The other man charged is Ralph Benjamin. Each faces a premeditated attempted murder charge. Both were being held in Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
According to a police report, surveillance video showed two men, later identified as Benjamin and Ledesma, arrive at a store at 820 E. 41st St. Monday in a 4-door BMW.
The video, police said, showed the men walking by Ramirez’s dental office and then into the Las 4 Hermanas supermarket, where they bought drinks.
The next day, around 10 a.m., police received a 911 call reporting a shooting at 810 E. 42nd St. When officers arrived, they found Ramirez “on a stair case outside of the business, with multiple gunshot wounds throughout her body, lying in a pool of blood,” an officer wrote in the report. Twelve shell casings were later found.
Ramirez was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she remains in critical condition, police said.
Meanwhile, police retrieved surveillance video that showed Benjamin being dropped off by the store in a dark colored BMW just before 10 a.m. He again went into the supermarket where he bought a Heineken beer and Marlboro cigarettes, an officer said in the report.
About the same time, Ramirez arrived at work, police said.
“As the victim ascended the stairs, defendant Benjamin, who was armed with a firearm, approached the victim from behind and shot her numerous times,” an officer wrote. “Defendant Benjamin then ran towards the subject vehicle driven by defendant Ledesma and fled the scene.”
Through the investigation, police learned that the victim was also the victim of a 2015 identity theft. The Orlando case is set to go to trial Dec. 9 to 27. Hector Ledesma’s brother, Jose Ledesma, is facing three to five years in jail if he is convicted of identity theft charges. Hialeah police said Ramirez was defrauded of $40,000 and was going to testify.
Hialeah police said neither Ledesma nor Benjamin lives in Miami-Dade. On Wednesday, police learned both men bought one-way tickets to the U.S. Virgin Islands, “attempting to flee the country.”
When Ledesma and Benjamin showed up at Miami International Airport Thursday for their flight, officers were waiting at gate D5 to take them into custody.
Police said Ledesma told detectives he dropped Benjamin off to buy marijuana and “observed defendant Benjamin with both arms up in a shooting stance, and saw muzzle flash as numerous shots were fired.”
Benjamin refused to talk, police said.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 6:52 PM.
