Gay Bar Patron Found Dead in Back of New York City Taxi
A 25-year-old social worker and mental health counselor was found unresponsive in the backseat of a New York City taxi following a night out in the city’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.The victim was later identified as 25-year-old Julio Ramirez, a resident of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, who had recently moved to the city a year ago after graduating with a double masters from the University of Buffalo.
His friends described him as “sweet” and a “smart young man,” and his brother, Carlos, said Julio “believed in serving underprivileged communities.”On April 20, Ramirez, who was an out gay man, went out with friends in Hell’s Kitchen and made several stops before ensign the night at the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a popular gay bar.
Surveillance footage from outside the bar shows Ramirez leaving the bar with three other men at 3:17 a.m. The four men then get in the back of a taxi.A little less than an hour later, around 4:10 a.m., the taxi driver flagged down police in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
In the back of the taxi, officers found Ramirez, unresponsive and lacking identification, reports NBC News.EMTs responding to the scene attempted to administer care to Ramirez, but were unsuccessful.
