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SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has upgraded charges against a man accused of having a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit when he ran into a young family out on a bike ride, critically injuring a 5-year-old boy, his 6-year-old sister and their father.
Five-year-old Jacob died a week after being hit by the intoxicated driver while on a bike ride with his parents and two young sisters in Garden Grove. The boy’s father remains in a coma after suffering a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
A driver who witnessed the crash followed the driver after he drove away until police stopped him.
Ceferino Ascencion Ramos, 29, of Santa Ana, was charged today with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated for killing 5-year-old Jacob who was riding in a bike trailer with his 6-year-old sister being pulled by his dad’s bike.
Ramos is also facing one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, one felony count of driving with blood alcohol of .08% or more causing bodily injury, and one felony count of hit and run with injury.
Ramos has also been in charged with two felony enhancements for causing brain injury and paralysis and one felony enhancement of great bodily injury. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and four months if convicted on all charges.
On Sunday, July 7, 2024, Angel Ramirez and Angela Hernandez-Mejia were riding e-bikes with their three young children just after 7 p.m. in Garden Grove on Haster near Twintree Lane. Angela was in front with the couple’s 7-month-old daughter being pulled behind in a bike trailer and Angel was pulling a trailer with their 5-year-old son Jacob and 6-year-old daughter inside.
A witness saw the family riding on the right side of the road as Ramos drove into all five members of the family before he drove away. The witness called police and followed Ramos until police could catch up to them and arrest him. Ramos had a blood alcohol content of .22 nearly three times the legal limit of .08.
Jacob remained in a coma without any brain activity until being removed from life support a week after the crash. Angel remains in a coma after he suffered a fractured skull and a brain bleed. The couple’s oldest daughter has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery for her injuries. The little girl turned seven years old the day after the collision. Angela and the couple’s 7-month-old suffered minor injuries.
“A five-year-old boy’s summer days should be spent playing outside, telling silly jokes, laughing and being loud because that’s what little boys do, not laying in a hospital bed hooked up to a machine fighting for their life because someone decided the next beer was more important than Jacob,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “This is a crime that should have never happened, and it is something that this family will never recover from. Jacob is so much more than another drunk driving statistic, but as a result of the selfish decision of a stranger to get behind the wheel while intoxicated, five-year-old Jacob has become another casualty of a crime that is completely preventable.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Devin Campbell of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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Love to know where he was drinking at. It had to be very close to the scene since he was that intoxicated. Maybe the friends that may not have stopped him and who may have served him should be prosecuted as accessories. I saw the accident aftermath and still don’t see how he hit them… seems he had to be on the wrong side of the road or coming out of Twintree LN in a way too wide of a turn. There was construction on Haster and no paint lines on the street, only outline markers.