He Tortured And Killed His 1-Year-Old Son: Cold blooded murder
Published by RawNews1st
7:04 p.m. ( May 24, 2026 )
He Tortured And Killed His 1-Year-Old Son. Now He’ll Serve Life In Prison.
Shortly before 11:00 p.m., emergency crews responded to a motel in Visalia, California after a toddler was found unresponsive inside a room. Upon arrival, first responders found the child suffering from catastrophic injuries. He was rushed to Kaweah Health Medical Center before being airlifted to Valley Children’s Hospital, where he was later pronounced brain-dead. He died on June 9, 2020.
The victim was identified as 23-month-old Joziah.
Prosecutors said Joziah, his mother Jasmine Blase, and 28-year-old Ezequiel Carlos Ramirez had relocated from a hotel in Fresno to the Visalia motel earlier that day to continue Ramirez’s pimping and pandering operation involving Blase and at least one other woman in Tulare and Fresno counties.
Authorities said Ramirez impregnated Blase when she was 15 years old. At the time of the murder, Ramirez was on parole for robbery and statutory rape and was prohibited from having contact with both Blase and Joziah.
Family members described Joziah as smart, active, and nearly potty trained. Prosecutors said the abuse leading up to the toddler’s death had been ongoing for an extended period. Blase later described abuse ranging from verbal mistreatment to Ramirez lifting the child off the ground by his hair.
Authorities said Blase left the motel room for a period of time while Ramirez remained alone with the child. Prosecutors stated Ramirez severely abused the toddler during that time.
When Blase returned to the motel room, prosecutors said she found Joziah unresponsive and breathing irregularly with blood on the bedding and elsewhere inside the room. Authorities said Ramirez claimed he had only kicked the child in the stomach and refused to allow Blase to call an ambulance.
Instead, prosecutors said Ramirez contacted a family friend and falsely claimed the child had fallen down stairs. Authorities also stated Ramirez deleted data from Blase’s cellphone before motel surveillance footage captured him fleeing the motel on foot.
Later that night, prosecutors said Ramirez sent messages to Blase including, “I’m gone,” “I’ll never see u again,” and “I’m so sorry.”
Investigators said emergency crews and law enforcement arrived minutes after Ramirez fled the motel.
Authorities stated Joziah suffered fractures to both sides of his skull, fractures to both sides of his rib cage, brain swelling and bleeding, along with bruises, burns, and abrasions to his extremities, limbs, torso, and genitals. Prosecutors said the injuries were consistent with the child being struck, shaken, thrown, kicked, and burned. An autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
In the early morning hours after the attack, prosecutors said Ramirez contacted a friend in Fresno asking for a ride while falsely claiming he had been involved in a car accident. During the drive, prosecutors said Ramirez repeatedly stated, “I didn’t have to do it.” Investigators later recovered a duffel bag containing blood-stained clothing after Ramirez left it behind at the friend’s residence.
Authorities said Ramirez avoided capture for approximately four days while continuing to recruit women for prostitution before officers located and arrested him in Fresno on June 9, 2020 with assistance from a state fugitive apprehension team.
During a police interview, prosecutors said Ramirez initially denied any involvement and claimed he was not around the child. After investigators confronted him with evidence and witness statements, prosecutors said he admitted being present but insisted he did not hurt Joziah “that bad” and “didn’t cause that much damage.”
On the third day of jury selection in March 2026, Ramirez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture along with seven felony counts of pimping, pandering, and soliciting prostitution.
On May 20, 2026, Ramirez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 35 years.
Joziah’s family later told prosecutors, “There is no closure in a case like this only resolution.”
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward described Ramirez’s actions as “brutality and callousness” against a vulnerable toddler who should have been protected by his father.
Blase was also charged as a codefendant for failing to protect her son from Ramirez. In 2021, she pleaded guilty to felony child abuse and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17, 2026, where she faces a maximum sentence of six years.
