Three Shenandoah, Pennsylvania teens charged in the beating death of Luis Ramirez will be tried for third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and ethnic intimidation.
CNN reports that Brandon Piekarsky (left), Colin Walsh (center), and Derrick Donchak (right) will stand trial on charges related to the beating death last month of Luis Ramirez, a Mexican migrant. The case cast a national spotlight on the Pennsylvania town of Shenandoah, where the Latino population has encountered hostility from the White community.
Sixteen-year-old Piekarsky and 17-year-old Walsh will be tried “on counts of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation.” Both will be tried as adults.
Eighteen-year-old Derrick Donchak “has been ordered to stand trial on aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses.”
According to eyewitness testimony from Ben Lawson, a 17-year-old friend of the three accused,
Ramirez [the victim] was fighting with one of the suspects, Derrick M. Donchak, when another, Colin Walsh, sucker-punched the victim. A third suspect, Brandon Piekarsky, then kicked Ramirez in the head while he lay motionless in the street.”
Lawson also testified that he, the three accused, and two other friends had been drinking in the woods on the night of the attack that resulted in the death of Luis Ramirez. Lawson went on to say that the next day, they met at Brandon Piekarsky’s house to plan what they were going to tell the police:
We made up a plan that we we’re going to tell the cops that nobody kicked him, that there were no racial slurs, there was no booze, and Brian got hit first.”
Having failed to protect Luis Ramirez in life, we can now only hope that the legal system will dispense justice to the people responsible for his death. More importanly, let’s hope the outcome of this trial makes other would-be hate criminals think twice before beating someone to death simply because he looks different from them.
T'ings 'n Times 
Not sure about the exact date; but around late 700 ad when the black plague swept across Europe killing so many people. The devistation was hard to understand and comprehend. First people repented, then the movement of flatulant (beating themselves) began. The church tried to respond seeking for an end to the horror of the plague. Finally, the communities in each country snapped; and what they then did was look for a scapegoat. They chose the Jewish people living among them. They beat, tortured, and killed them; some burned at the stake. I am saying all this to make a point. When economies collapse, industries decline, people who can move and start over elsewhere leave, the community begins to erode and collapse. So, out of frustration, ignorance, intollerance, a scapegoat is selected to punish. I don’t live in Shennandoah Valley; I don’t know the facts behind the story from both sides outside of the media. I just feel incredibly sad at what is happening to our communities, cities as our economy declines and people’s income declines and opportunities to improve decline. All I can think is “God Help Us.” We were once a great nation. My grandfather came to America from Poland. He worked very hard and returned not becoming a citizen. We have to rise above all these issues facing our naton and become better people. Even if we have to accept and embrace a lower standard of living economically, we must not lose our self respect, dignity, humanity. We must choose to do what is right and pursue being better people. It is our choice; all of us. I’m not passing judgment; just very sad. But hopeful that it’s not too late to turn things around.
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Vicky, Marely, and Abdul Kargbo
Thank you guys for all those great comments and I also want you to know according what I read today at laopinion.com, the case will reopen again and hopefully we can see that justice that Luis Ramirez deserves. And a big thanks to you Abdul for handling those stupid comments from those ignorant people.
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Angel,
Thanks for your comment. I just saw the news about the Federal investigation yesterday.
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Abdul Kargbo, you are so funny. I love the way you handled pearlgirl. I salute you and wish you the best of luck handling ignorant people like her who can’t look past race and color to see a human being.
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Marely,
Thanks for the supportive comment.
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God bless you, Abdul
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That is crazy that these racist motherfuckers only got a slap in the risk for this murder, but even though they dont pay for what they did here on earth they will pay down in hell, and for the Americans who think this country belongs to only “white ” americans newflash go to school if you read up on your history find out who founded America…..fucking Hicks
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THIS IS APOCALYPSES…. NOW!!!!
God Bless America, Where the law is the law. I ask myself, and I think that I am getting mad because I have a headache about it, what if Latinos kill a WHITE man? What do you think that would happen to those poor Latinos? What the judgment would be ? The answer is simple: Death row.
But this is America.
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I thought this was America, the land of the free and the home of the brave! These men and I stress MEN because that’s whatthey wanted to be, killed another man regardless of race they should pay. A crime is a crime and I for one am glad this country had laws to protect us from people like these 6 men from Shenandoah. I live close by and days after the incident these men were re-enacting their beating scene for the town to see. It was a disgrace! The police, judge, and district attorney should be ashamed of the way the trial played out. The whole white jury should be hung themselves. Those small coal towns are so prejudice it’s sad this got swept under the rug this long. Hopefully a federal judge can give this man and his family peace!
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OUTRAGE OUT OF SOUTH BEACH, FL….FOR THOSE ASSHOLES THAT DID THAT TO LUIS RAMIREZ!!!!!
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-253511
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I am outraged that the culprits were acquitted. I don’t think an all-White jury can fairly deliberate.
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Most of your so-called would be hate killers are white people who don’t want their daughters raped their sons the victims of extortion their communities polluted and their rights eroding away because the federal government refuses to enforce its immigration laws. This nonsence makes it impossibe for a white man to defend himself if he ever used certain words or pharses or obviously he is a (fill in the blank with your favorite buzz word) and is guilty if nothing else but a so-called “hatecrime”. Now the government and all its shabez goy(stupid cattle) are in the business of mind reading. Once again its whitey you lose and darky you win!#$%
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Pingback: Luis Ramirez’s Killers About to Stand Trial « T’ings ‘n Times
Pingback: Luis Ramirez Killers’ About to Stand Trial « T’ings ‘n Times
Pearlgirl, you racist scumbags make me sick. Leave the USA. YOU are not wanted here.
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Michelle,
Thank you for your comments. It’s truly sad that the majority of comments posted in response to the killing of Luis Ramirez have expressed the opposite sentiment from yours.
I hope you keep coming back to my blog and posting comments.
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These comment these girls are leaving are so sad. how ignorate and racist.
I am not happy to be a American when I read things like that.
I hope PearlGirl and deeliv do not concider themselfs to be good christians because if there is a god, he or she would be very hurt and ashamed.
This world is for everyone and everyone has a right!
Luis Ramirez is not whats wrong with the world, it’s people like you!
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wow reading these comments is so sad. For the first time I am ashamed to be a American. And the fact that most of these racist, ignorant remarks are being made by women..wait I mean girls, is so devastating to me. I hope none of them (PearlGirl or deeliv) concider themselfs to be good christians because if there is a god he or she would be hurt and ashemed as well.
Girls,
Tolerance is a virtue so please practice it.
The world is everyones and everyone has a right!
Hate IS a crime and should always be.
You! not Luis Ramirez is what’s wrong with the world today.
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God Bless you, michelle
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PearlGirl,
Wow!
For someone who questions my cognitive ability, I can only laugh at your inability to comprehend my response to your original comment.
Let’s try again, shall we? By telling you that you made it clear where you’re coming from, I mean you clearly stated your position. And, since I understood your clearly stated position, I felt I had no need to respond to it. Hence “no need to respond.”
Apparently written English is not your forte, which is fine by me, but I need to clarify that I was not telling YOU to not respond.
While we’re on the subject, your follow-up response reveals you to be a xenophobe at best, so again, I feel no need to respond to it.
I’ll just point out that, in much the same way I can’t tell you when or to whom you can respond, you have no business telling me where I have any business to be or not be.
I guess in your world, personal attacks and insults pass for intelligent discourse. Good for you.
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Abdul – I’ll respond to whomever and whatever I CHOOSE to respond to – so don’t even attmept to tell me who I should or should not respond to. I am glad that you possess enough cognitive ability to understand my message.
Now – where are you? Your first name is Abdul. God only knows where the ethnic origin of your surname derives from. Regardless – I hope you are NOT in the USA – as some-one with your name has no business here, either.
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Racist.
I hope God Forgive you
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It’s I hope God FORGIVES you.
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PearlGirl,
Thanks for your comment.
You made it perfectly clear where YOU’RE coming from so no need to respond.
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Ramirez would possibly be alive today (provided his fellow dealers, in the Narco-State of MeHHco, didn’t whack him for some reason or other. That’s a VERY common cause of death, in MeHHco, ya know….and no-one bothers to investigate, since most of the policia are in on the deals), if he hadn’t entered the USA illegally. and what WAS he doing with an underage girl, in that park, late at night? What was SHE doing there? And why didn’t he speak a WORD of English, after 6 YEARS in the USA?
I’ve always found that those that slur, or infer “racism” are almost ALWAYS the BIGGEST racists of all. Finally, the USA was concieved, created ,and BUILT by WHITE Christians – FOR White Christians. OUR legal systen specifies “innocent until proven guilty” – unlike almost ALL of the “justice” systems world wide. By the sound of the names, of those slandering those boys – your people/gente/what-ever were never ABLE to develop such enlightened concepts – and you’ll never “get it”. So get OUT.
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deeliv,
“[I]llegally invade a town”? Don’t you think that’s a bit melodramatic? This isn’t Red Dawn we’re talking about here. And what does immigration status have to do with the fact that Luis Ramirez is dead? I hope you’re not suggesting that in the absence of Federal authorities it is OK for local youth to take the law into their own hands. Besides, it’s not like the three guys who killed Luis Ramirez were enforcing federal immigration law, so I don’t even see what your point is.
Oh wait! I get it! If the federal government doesn’t get a handle on undocument migrants, then it’s up to local youth to do so. Is that right?
I guess it’s a pity then that these boys are being prosecuted. They were just doing what any decent person would do, right?
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Is it a surprise when people illegally invade a town that there are going to be hostilities. Shenandoah Vally kindergarten is 48% illegal Mexican. That means we are paying double school taxes to educate people that are criminals not orphans from Darfur but criminals. The government is obstructing local authorities from enforcing the law because illegals can only be held by Federal authorities and there aren’t any Federal authorities. The resources of a depressed town are being drained probably into bankruptcy. The illegals are not paying taxes or returning the money to the town the majority is sent back to Mexico. How would you like to have your taxes doubled and job go to an illegal ? I thought that was why we had laws paid taxes and enforced them but it appears the poor have to go without the law. Now four teenagers have to give there lives for what there government didn’t do.
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Deeliv
I hope, God Forgive you.
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Deeliv
You’ll need more than God to forgive you. As you set there and pass judgement. Your own kind milk the system by not working, depending on welfare because their lazy A** won’t get out and find a job. Lets keep poppin out those babies so that we can have the government provide us with a check or food stamps hell we even get free medical assistants. It’s America remember. So while your out there putting down all the different ethnic groups remember one thing if this had happened to you or your loved one you yourself would be seeking justice. The old saying goes “An Eye For an Eye and A Tooth For A Tooth” Nothing more to say. My heart goes out to the victims family.
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PFC Daniel, It IS our governments responsibility to protect him in the US as long as he is in the US. You should know this that is our job. To protect everyone within our borders no matter what Color, Race, Creed, or Religion. We as a free country and a ethnically diverse country that was created on the foundation of immagrants have no right to blame anyone for being here illegally or legally. We are all imagrants no mater were you are from and people need to remember that. You should now this better than anyone. We have non US citizens that are in the military today and are just as good or even better than a US citizen.
The US Justice Department and the US Government should not tolerate any racial profiling, harrasment, or killings in this country. We are in the 21st Century and we need to leave the past in the past and move on.
These boys need to be treated like adults because they were acting like adults and wanted to be adults. They want to drink underage and kill someone just because they were angry or drunk. They need to have the book thrown at them and they are probably going to be put away for a long time.
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PFC Daniel Williams,
Thanks for your comment.
You might not be aware of this but everyone in the US is entitled to equal protection under the law. It’s not just for White people or people born in the US. Just to prove I’m right, why do you think the boys who killed Luis Ramirez are being prosecuted? Equal protection under the law, that’s why. Murder is murder.
Also, I’ll correct you by pointing out that I’ve read lots and lots of articles about the death of Luis Ramirez. “Hate speech” is just that; speech. It doesn’t result in death. What Piekarsky et al. did to Luis Ramirez involved much more than mere speech. They killed him. “Hate speech” or not, three young men are charged with murder, another young man is dead.
You can rant and rave all you want but it’s too late now for Luis Ramirez and for Walsh, Piekarsky, and Donckak. Let’s hope the legal system does it’s job and dispenses justice to these three boys who didn’t seem to understand a lot of things: calling someone names because of their race or ethnicity is wrong; ganging up in a three-to-one fight is wrong; kicking an unconscious man is wrong; plotting to lie to the police is wrong.
That’s the real moral of the story.
Hopefully others can learn from this.
For the record, here’s an excerpt from the CNN article citing eyewitness testimony about how the fight started:
So here’s what happened: Ramirez was in a park with a young girl; a group of drunk teens comes up to them; one of the teens says something rude to the girl; Ramirez responds in Spanish; the teen starts racially abusing him; a physical fight starts between Ramirez and one of the teens; another teen punches him in the face, knocking him unconscious; a different teen delivers the fatal kick to the head of the now-unconscious Ramirez. Seems pretty clear to me what happened.
There would have been no fight if the gang of drunk teens had just kept on walking, instead of goading Ramirez into a fight they must have known he would lose. As for his race being an issue, I wonder if they would have stopped to tell a White girl that it was too late to be out if the man she was with had been White.
Everything will become clear over the course of the trial. Until then, there’s no use speculating on anything.
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“Having failed to protect Luis Ramirez in life, we can now only hope that the legal system will dispense justice to the people responsible for his death.”
It wasn’t OUR justice system’s responsibility to protect him.
“More importanly, let’s hope the outcome of this trial makes other would-be hate criminals think twice before beating someone to death simply because he looks different from them.”
Maybe if you read the entire article you’d see where he started the fight. He got pissed off because another kid said to the teen girl he was with “isn’t it a little late for you to be out,” and started spewing his own “hate speech” towards the young men. He started talking shit and he got his ass beat, he wasn’t targeted because of his race. Maybe if he hadn’t have been here illegally to begin with he wouldn’t have died, at least not by the hands of three white boys in America anyway.
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