Road rage suspect accused of gunning down father of five to remain behind bars
TAMPA, Fla. - A man accused of shooting and killing a Riverview father of five will not be getting out of jail any time soon.
Emotions are still raw for Rachel Keesee who had to relive the road rage incident in January that led to the shooting death of Bryan Proenza, her fiance, and father of her children.
Prosecutors say Jorge Ramirez pulled the trigger.
Keesee said on January 16, she and her two children were in the family Chevy SUV and Proenza was driving.
Pictured: Bryan Proenza and family.
She said they were on Balm Riverview Road, just south of the Kids Cove Learning Academy, when Ramirez, in a black BMW, suddenly started driving aggressively after their SUV ended up blocking the entrance to the Academy.
She said Ramirez rammed their car a couple of times,
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"Just bumping us. I was very scared because I had my two kids in the backseat. One was behind me, and the other was behind Bryan," she recalled.
Rachel Keesee tearfully recalled the events that led up to her fiancée being shot.
She says things quickly escalated when the BMW followed them into a neighborhood.
She says her fiancé pulled over, got out of the car, and grabbed two metal pipes and Ramirez grabbed his gun.
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"Then the gun went off. I heard like three to five shots. I was trying to count them in my head but I was also trying to protect my kids," recalled the tearful mother.
Pictured: Bryan Proenza
Proenza was shot and killed. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office lead detective Brian Gibson said Ramirez had passengers in his car and they remember his chilling remarks.
"The driver got back in the car, and they asked him what had just happened, and the defendant told them ‘I just shot the [expletive] N-word,’" recalled Detective Gibson.
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Later, Ramirez’s little sister and mother urged the judge to let him out on bond, but Tampa Judge Laura Ward was not swayed.
Jorge Ramirez's mom and sister tried to convince a judge to let him out on bond.
"I don’t find any conditions of release that could adequately protect the community from Mr. Ramirez if he were to bond out," ruled Ward.
She went on to call Ramirez a danger to the community and denied him bond.
Jorge Ramirez in court.
Ramirez will stay in jail until his trial.
He is charged with second-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
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