‘I was shocked’: Victim’s mother says shooter escaped accountability with plea deal

CHARLOTTE — Tyron Ervin Jr.’s mother looked directly at Mario Ramirez-Duarte in court on Thursday as Duarte’s murder charge was dropped in part of a plea deal.

“Now you get a plea? Did my son get a plea that day?” Ervin’s mother said through tears.

Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz was in court as Ramirez-Duarte was sentenced to at least three years in prison on Thursday. Ramirez-Duarte pleaded guilty to shooting into an occupied property and other charges. He was originally charged with murder, along with another man.

It stems back to December of 2018, when police say Ervin was found dead at an apartment complex off Fishers Pond Drive. Police said Ervin was shot 16 times.

Thursday, Ramirez-Duarte’s murder charge was dropped as part of the plea.

It’s not the first time he’s faced a murder charge. He was once accused of killing 20-year-old Shandiin Sanchez, who police say was shot in the head at a Charlotte apartment complex in 2018.

“She had the gusto for life!” said Kamil Taiman.

Taiman is Sanchez’s mother, and she remembered the day charges were dropped against Ramirez-Duarte in her daughter’s case.

“I was shocked and stunned when they told me that his charges were going to be dismissed for my daughter, but at the same time, I was determined,” Taiman told Sáenz.

That’s why she was in court for Ervin’s case on Thursday. But she told Sáenz the plea deal makes her feel like Ramirez-Duarte is escaping accountability all over again. Now, she’s warning the public about him.

“Everyone should know who he is, what he looks like,” Taiman said.

Sáenz was in court when Judge Craig Collins asked Ervin’s mother what she would like him to do: accept the plea deal or reject it. She said to accept it because she wanted this to finally be over.

Ramirez-Duarte was sentenced to a range of 36 to 65 months in prison, but with time served, he’s already in that range.

(VIDEO: 16-year-old charged with attempted murder after police chase across two counties)

16-year-old charged with attempted murder after police chase across two counties

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