What there is to know

  • The cause and manner of death of a beloved social worker who was found dead in a taxi nearly a year ago on April 21, 2022 after a night out has been revealed.
  • According to the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, Julio Ramirez’s cause of death was determined to be “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol”. His manner of death was classified as “homicide” due to “drug-facilitated robbery”.
  • Ramírez, 25, met up with a friend on the night of April 20 to hang out in the Manhattan neighborhood. After doing the bar hopping, their final stop was The Ritz, a popular multi-tiered gay venue in the heart of Restaurant Row.

NEW YORK – The cause and manner of death have been revealed for a beloved social worker who was found dead in a taxi almost a year ago on April 21, 2022, after a night out.

According to the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, Julio Ramirez’s cause of death was determined to be “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol”. His manner of death was classified as “homicide” due to “drug-facilitated robbery”.

Ramirez was last seen outside the Ritz Bar and Lounge on West 46th Street in Hell’s Kitchen in the early hours of April 21, 2022.

Ramírez, 25, met up with a friend on the night of April 20 to hang out in the Manhattan neighborhood. After bar-hopping, their final stop was The Ritz, a popular multi-level gay venue in the heart of Restaurant Row.

The two ended up separating. Surveillance footage from a nearby security camera showed Ramirez leaving the scene with three unidentified men at 3:17 a.m., according to his brother Carlos.

The four men then got into a nearby taxi, a police source said, but Ramirez was alone in the backseat at 4:10 a.m. when the driver approached a police officer 3 miles away in the Lower East Side to tell him that his passenger was not responding.

Less than an hour later, Ramírez was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The medical examiner’s office said a preliminary toxicology evaluation found nothing of immediate significance, but noted that further testing was needed. Now, however, those additional tests have revealed something concerning, according to the medical examiner’s findings.

Ramirez was initially identified as “John Doe”, his brother said, because neither his wallet nor his phone was with him when he died and authorities therefore did not know his identity.

The family earlier told our sister network NBC New York that the unknown men in the taxi took Ramirez’s phone, changed his password, then stole $20,000 from his bank account.

“Julio was a very beloved person. I think this is all suspicious. And hopefully we’ll have some answers soon,” friend Karinina Quimpo said. “Getting into a cab with a group of strangers, giving away his phone, potentially giving away his stuff, it’s just not like him. .”

Those who took part in a protest to draw attention to the case last summer said they feared he was attacked in a gay bar for mysterious reasons. They fear he was a victim of homosexuality.

“It’s very heartbreaking,” said Sam Carnicelli. “It was not a random act.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) .

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