Man gets life sentence for shooting man in SUV while driving on Gwinnett County highway

A jury in Gwinnett County has found a man guilty of shooting another man in the back of the head while they were traveling in an SUV.

On April 14, 2021, Jorge Alberto Ramirez, 35, and Pedro Lopez-Belloso, 23, were driving along Jimmy Carter Boulevard.

Ramirez, who was sitting in the back seat of the SUV armed with an AR-15 rifle, told police he was nervous because Lopez-Belloso was also armed.

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He told police that he loaded his gun because he had a “funny feeling” about the others in the SUV.

Shortly thereafter, a rifle shot was fired and hit Lopez-Belloso, who was sitting in the passenger seat, in the back of the head.

Ramirez told investigators that the rifle was lying next to him when a shot was accidentally fired.

However, according to evidence presented in court, Ramirez intended to shoot Lopez-Belloso, telling the SUV driver, “I don't give a damn… There will be no feelings of jealousy, envy or hatred…”

When Ramirez was questioned by Gwinnett County police in the back seat of a patrol car after the shooting, he was recorded as saying he shot Lopez-Belloso because the “immigrant wants to envy, hate and be jealous of an American citizen of the United States of America.”

He later said: “…Our oath is that if you put our patriots on trial, our patriots will respond with the utmost accuracy and a clear resolution…It's very simple, brother. I don't give a damn if there are no murders, I don't give a damn if there are no kidnappings. I don't give a damn what happens.”

When Ramirez was questioned by prosecutors in March 2022 after his indictment by police, he said he was sleeping in the back seat of the SUV, which was propped up on the seat next to him, fell over and fired.

An analysis of the rifle by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found that it could not have been an accidental misfire, but that the shot could only have been fired by a human pulling the trigger.

A jury found Ramirez guilty on three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of a weapon during the commission of a serious felony.

Ramirez was sentenced to life imprisonment plus five years.

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