A Gresham man who fatally shot an unarmed woman while spraying bullets at a MAX stop in east Portland two years ago was sentenced Friday to life behind bars with the possibility of parole in 35 years.
Isai Damian Ramos, 24, showed only defiance during the sentencing hearing, claiming he hadn’t gotten a fair trial and that the case would be overturned on appeal.
A Multnomah County jury found Damian Ramos guilty of second-degree murder earlier this month in the killing of 42-year-old Gladis Mendoza-Hernandez as she waited for the train at the East 148th Avenue light-rail station late in the evening on July 6, 2022.
Jurors also convicted Damian Ramos of two counts of attempted murder, second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon for firing at two other men on the platform and wounding one of them in both feet.
Trial testimony, surveillance footage and GPS data showed Damian Ramos had been out bar hopping when he chanced upon the trio and shouted a “hood check” — a proactive taunt designed to elicit gang affiliation.
Prosecutors said Damian Ramos is affiliated with the Fremont Block Norteños set and had identified one of the other men as a rival.
He rushed home, grabbed a handgun and then opened fire while driving past the MAX stop. Mendoza-Hernandez was resting inside a brick vestibule and had her back to the tracks when she was hit by two rounds.
Mendoza-Hernandez, who wasn’t a gang member, died at the scene.
Defense attorneys asked for the minimum mandatory sentence — life in prison with the chance of parole in 25 years — but Senior Deputy District Attorney Todd Jackson asked for parole in 35 years, citing the pernicious effect of “rampant and senseless gun violence in the community.”
“Gladys Mendoza-Hernandez wasn’t doing anything to provoke the defendant. She didn’t even communicate with the defendant,” he said. “But she’s dead now.”
Circuit Judge Amy Baggio followed the prosecutor’s recommendation and imposed the higher sentence.
—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.
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