Family confronts killer:
Triple-slaying victims’ relatives talk about pain
The woman whose husband and two sons were murdered describes her pain.
The woman whose husband and two sons were shot to death in their car on a San Francisco street in 2008 spoke directly in court Monday to the gang member convicted of their murders, telling him of the “unimaginable” pain her family has been forced to endure.
“This is what you did,” Danielle Bologna told Edwin Ramos as she held up a photo of her 16-year-old son, Matthew, hooked up to machines in a hospital after the shooting. “No mother should ever have to take her son off life
support. This is what you did.”
Bologna wore all black as she delivered her victim-impact statement at a San Francisco Superior Court hearing at which Ramos was to have been sentenced for the murders of Matthew Bologna, his father, Tony Bologna, 48, and brother, Michael Bologna, 20.
Ramos is facing a likely sentence of life without parole. Judge Charles Haines delayed the sentencing at the request of defense attorneys, who say they are looking into whether there was juror misconduct when Ramos, 25, was convicted of the killings last month.
Changes since trial
Ramos didn’t flash the grin he displayed during much of his three-month trial, and the suits he wore at the defense table were replaced by a jailgrade orange jumpsuit. He sat grim-faced, his left hand shackled to his waist, as friends and relatives of the Bolognas wept behind him.
Ramos was convicted of three counts of firstdegree murder with gang and firearm enhancements for the drive-by shootings in the Excelsior neighborhood that killed the Bolognas on June 22, 2008. Prosecutors said the attack was retaliation for a shooting earlier that day that wounded a friend of Ramos’, and that Ramos had mistaken at least one of the Bologna sons for a rival gang member.
Danielle Bologna’s 14-year-old daughter, Nani, sobbed and shook so hard during her statement that her mother had to stand by her.
“You don’t have to look at him,” Danielle Bologna whispered to her.
‘I hate you’
Nani, who was 10 at the time of the shootings, said she would never again sit in her father’s lap or see her brothers wrestling and fooling around together.
“I don’t use the word ‘hate,’ but I hate you with all my heart and know that your daughter will know that her father is a murderer,” Nani said, referring to Ramos’ 4-year-old daughter. “I hope that when she is 14, she will know how much I lost.”
Danielle Bologna, Nani and Danielle’s surviving son, 21-year-old Andrew Bologna, have entered a witness-protection program. Andrew Bologna, who survived the shootings, provided the key testimony at Ramos’ trial when he identified the MS-13 gang member as the man who had opened fire on his family’s Honda Civic at Congdon and Maynard streets.
Ramos awaits turn
Ramos’ attorneys said he would address the court when he is sentenced, though the judge said he would only “consider” letting him speak.
“Had Mr. Ramos had the opportunity to speak, he would have been able to say something to the victims’ family,” said Andrea Lindsay, one of Ramos’ attorneys. “He didn’t have the opportunity, which I think is unfortunate for our client and for the victims’ family.”
Lindsay said the defense probably will ask for a new trial, citing “mass confusion” among jurors during deliberations.
Marla Zamora, Ramos’ lead attorney, argued during the trial that a now-vanished gang member had killed the Bolognas and that Ramos had only been driving the car. She noted that although the jury convicted Ramos of the murders, it hung on the charge of whether he fired into an occupied vehicle — which she called a seeming contradiction showing the jury was biased against her client.
“What was my biggest fear in this trial?” Zamora said. “That they would reach the verdict based on emotion.”
Jurors in court
Several jurors were in court Monday. Danielle Bologna embraced and spoke to each one, thanking them.
The foreman, who asked to be identified only as John S., wouldn’t comment on the deliberations, other than saying, “It was hard keeping track of everything, but I felt like it was very well organized and that made our jobs easier.”
Ramos is to return to court for sentencing Monday. The victimimpact statements won’t sway the judge’s sentencing, but for the Bologna family, having their say in court was a welcome wrap-up to a four-year ordeal.
“It’s OK, honey,” Danielle Bologna murmured to her weeping motherin-law after the hearing. “We did it. We did it.”