Teenager wanted for murder of NYC caretaker fled to Dominican Republic, police say

Detectives identified the paranoid 17-year-old as the man who fired the bullet that killed the beloved Manhattan caretaker the day after Christmas, but the teen had fled the country by the time cops called his name to his face, police said. Thursday.

Bronx resident Manuel Ramos bought a one-way plane ticket to the Dominican Republic on January 1, about four days after he shot Valeria Ortega, 64, in Inwood, NYPD Detectives Chief James Essig said.

Police identified Ramos as the shooter three days after he fled the country. The teenager, who was riding in the back seat of a car on December 26, took aim at a man on a scooter rolling behind the car when he fired the fatal shot.

Police at the scene of a shooting near Dyckman Street and Vermilia Avenue in Inwood on December 26, 2022.

“We are actively working on his extradition,” Essig said.

The police had already questioned the man and woman who were in the car with Ramos when, around 11:30 a.m., a shot rang out at the corner of Dijkman and Vermil Avenue.

Ortega was on her way to a nearby supermarket when a stray bullet hit her in the face, police said. Medics took her in critical condition to a Harlem hospital, where she later died.

“All she did was her family,” a friend of Ortega’s son told Daily News the day she was shot. “She took care of her sick mother who is on oxygen. The lady on the fourth floor, she’s blind, she took care of her too. The lady is not even related to her.

A cartridge case is seen at the scene of the shooting near Dyckman Street and Vermilia Avenue in Inwood on December 26, 2022.

According to Essig, Ramos was about to buy marijuana with his two mates when he suddenly believed the scooter driver was following them.

“He shoots at the scooter, misses, but hits the victim,” the chief said, adding that the two people he was traveling with did not know Ramos had a gun.

“They don’t know why he did it,” Essig said.

Using security cameras, detectives tracked the car “for several days” before finding the car and two associates of Ramos, Essig said.

He said the duo were not immediately charged.

Anyone with information on Ramos’ current whereabouts is strongly advised to call the NYPD Crime Squad at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be confidential.

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