TUCSON, AZ - The Pima County (AZ) Sheriff’s Department announced Saturday that an arrest has been made in the murder of Carlos Ramirez, a Tucson Police Department recruit, according to KVOA News 4 Tucson.
Santiago Jorge Rogers, 39, was arrested without incident at a hotel in Pima County. He is charged with first-degree murder.
“The Pima Regional SWAT Team arrested a suspect wanted for first-degree murder at a south-side hotel early Saturday morning,” the department said in a news release. “Santiago Jorge Rogers, 39, was arrested without incident at a hotel in the 4800 block of South Palo Verde Road. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department Fugitive Investigations Unit, with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, executed the arrest warrant in connection with the death of Carlos Ramirez. Rogers was booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Complex.”
Rogers made a video appearance in court Saturday night and is being held without bond. He was also ordered not to have contact with the victim’s family. His bond hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27, while a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Another person of interest has also been found by the sheriff’s office. He was seen in surveillance footage exiting a car believed to be involved in the murder and walking away from the area, News 4 reported. Detectives are trying to determine his connection to the case, and no arrest has been made of that individual yet.
Ramirez, 23, was shot and killed at his home on the morning of Aug. 19. His fiancée, a PCSD corrections officer, was injured in the shooting and is recovering. The couple’s unborn child was not harmed.
Detectives located the suspect vehicle involved in the homicide investigation in a parking lot on Aug. 20 near the scene.
Another suspect, Alex James Barnett, 33, is the subject of an arrest warrant for murder in connection with the fatal shooting. Detectives continue to search for Barnett, who has a criminal record.
Ramirez, a former corrections officer, had completed 23 weeks of training at the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center and was supposed to graduate this month, the Tucson Police Department said.
The department and the Erik Hite Foundation are working in collaboration to raise financial support for the Ramirez family. One hundred percent of the donations will go directly to Ramirez’s family to help cover medical expenses, household bills, childcare, and other immediate needs. Contributions can be made here.
Aside from his fiancée and unborn child, Ramirez is survived by two other children, his parents, and his brother.
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