Homicide suspect in court
Friend of victim charged with firstdegree manslaughter
DANBURY — A Danbury man accused of fatally shooting his friend at a Sterling Woods condominium last week made his first court appearance Thursday.
A handcuffed David Ramos, 33, was led into state Superior Court in Danbury through a side entrance by five marshals, and appeared to be wearing the same gray Tshirt he wore in the arrest photo released by police Wednesday.
He remained silent and had his head down throughout his arraignment.
Ramos was charged with firstdegree manslaughter Wednesday in the shooting death of Jason Hoffman, 33, at Ramos’ condo.
Authorities responded to reports of a shooting at the Hancock Drive condo at 6:07 a.m. on Sept. 4, where they found Hoffman with a single gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police have still not released details of the case that show what transpired in the moments leading up to the shooting more than a week after Hoffman was killed.
The arrest warrant application, which typically contains key findings by police from evidence and interviews conducted as part of the investigation, remains sealed from public view under court order.
Judge Cara Eschuk ordered Ramos’ warrant remain sealed from everyone but his legal counsel, and said his lawyer should not discuss the details contained in the affidavit with his client.
“I understand this is a restriction on your attorneyclient privilege,” Eschuk said.
The file remains sealed because “it’s part of the ongoing investigation,” said Danbury State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky after the arraignment.
Ramos was apprehended Wednesday after police found him hiding at a friend’s apartment on Scuppo Road.
He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to keep prescription drugs in original container and interfering with the duties of a police officer at the time of his arrest.
Charges from a prior arrest are also sealed.
On July 30, Danbury police arrested Ramos for thirddegree assault and seconddegree breach of peace, both misdemeanor offenses.
The affidavit from that incident is also sealed, according to the Danbury court clerk’s office. The case has been referred to family relations court.
Ramos, a 2004 graduate of Carmel High School in New York, was arrested for a domestic incident in Florida 12 years ago.
Police in Clermont, Fla., charged him with misdemeanor battery after a woman said Ramos grabbed her and pushed her against a couch during an argument about an unknown caller on the woman’s cellphone.
In the Danbury homicide, police have not said whether a handgun found at the scene was the one used to kill Hoffman. City Detective Lt. Mark Williams described the weapon as a .22caliber Walther.
A person at the apartment called 911 after the shooting — but police said Ramos didn’t place the call.
Williams said a red sedan towed from the scene did not belong to Ramos, but declined to elaborate as to how the vehicle was connected to the fatal shooting.
Sedensky said he could not discuss whether police would be making more arrests, saying the public would “have to wait for them to finish their investigation.”