Prosecutors Release Harrowing Details Of Family's Massacre In Gage Park

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on May 20, 2016 9:08PM

Diego Uribe, 22 (left) and Jafeth Ramos, 19, both of whom have been charged in the Gage Park Massacres (Chicago Police Department)

Prosecutors have laid out their case against Diego Uribe Cruz, 22, and his girlfriend Jafeth Ramos, 19, who are accused of brutally murdering six members of a Gage Park family on February 4. Judge James Brown ordered the pair to be held without bail, saying their actions were "pure evil." Both were charged with six counts of murder.

Though the massacre was ostensibly kicked off by a robbery attempt, the pair made off with very little, according to the Sun-Times: $550 in cash, a piggy bank of change, an Xbox One, jewelry and some cell phones they later broke and threw out. The pair bought diapers and milk for their child, and prosecutors say they were hoping to buy a car with their loot.

Cook County State’s Attorney Alvarez said, "After 30 years as a prosecutor, I thought I had seen and heard just about anything and everything when it comes to violent crime, but a case like this is something I have never seen before. This was not an armed robbery, This was a methodical slaughter."

Prosecutors said the pair went to the home of the Martinez family armed with a gun to rob Cruz's relatives. They dined with the family before they started their rampage, according to the Chicago Tribune. Cruz admitted to police that he "had a lot of anger" over the way his uncle had been treated by his ex-wife, Maria Herminia Martinez, 32. She was Cruz's first victim. He followed her upstairs and demanded money at gunpoint, then fatally shot her several times in the ensuing struggle, prosecutors said.

When Maria's brother Noe Martinez Jr., 38, heard gunshots, he allegedly ran upstairs, where Cruz punched and choked him. Family matriarch Rossaura Martinez, 58, then rushed upstairs and attempted to punch Cruz, but he pushed her down the stairs. He then went into the kitchen to get knives and stabbed her unconscious body, prosecutors said.

Brothers Leonardo Cruz, 13, and Alexis Cruz, 10, showed the suspects where the money and other valuables were located.

Diego Cruz told Alexis to go to the basement, where he allegedly fatally stabbed him. Ramos told police she heard his screams. Leonardo then asked what happened to his brother, and Cruz reassured him and told him to look out for his grandpa. As Leonardo turned to look out the window, Cruz stabbed the boy in his stomach. Leonardo pleaded for his life, crying out "Please no! Please don’t! I just want to live."

Cruz waited for his final victim Noe Martinez, Sr., 62, to return from buying tamales and hot chocolate for his family. Cruz stabbed and beat him before taking his wallet. His victim seemed baffled.

"Why are you killing me?" the grandfather reportedly said. "I don't owe you anything."

Ramos wasn't accused of killing any of the victims but Alvarez said she aided and abetted Cruz.

Ramos' legal guardian, Lourdes Oliva, told the Sun-Times that Cruz was an abusive and controlling boyfriend who she believes pressured Ramos into helping him. She said Cruz wouldn't let her wear make-up, shower or even leave the basement where they lived without his permission. She stands 5'2" and weighs 100 pounds; Oliva said, "She could not even kill a fly."