A man convicted in an Oceano murder case will be sentenced this spring after also being found guilty this month of a separate crime.
According to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, Angel RamosRamirez was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the 2022 stabbing death of Daniel Diaz, 20, of Oceano.
Following a 29-day trial last year, a San Luis Obispo County jury returned a guilty verdict in the case in September.
The DA’s Office says the jury found the murder was committed murder “for the benefit of the West Park criminal street gang and that Ramosramirez used a knife in the killing.”
The gang operated primarily in Santa Maria, according to the DA’s Office.
A DA press release says evidence showed the victim was stabbed 10 times in the early-morning hours of June 4, 2022.
Authorities previously announced the murder had occurred following a fight outside a home on the 2000 block of Ocean Street.
In the same criminal complaint, RamosRamirez was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing of a teenager at a party in Nipomo in September of 2021, according to the DA’s Office.
WATCH: Sentencing postponed in 2022 Oceano murder case
Separate trials were ordered by the court on each crime “to protect the defendant’s due process rights,” the DA’s Office reported. The murder trial was held first.
RamosRamirez reportedly waived his right to a jury trial. Judge Jesse J. Marino found the evidence against the suspect to be true, and a conviction was also handed down in that case.
Prior to both crimes, RamosRamirez had a conviction out of Santa Barbara County for making criminal threats to benefit the same criminal street gang as in 2022, according to the DA’s Office. The conviction qualifies as a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes Law.
“We will aggressively prosecute violent crime in our community. Particularly violent gang crime, which far too often targets our disadvantaged population,” said District Attorney Dan Dow in a press release. “We remain committed to working closely with our local and regional law enforcement partners to guarantee successful prosecutions and appropriate sentences in cases of gang violence.”
Ramosramirez is scheduled to be sentenced on April 28. He faces a maximum sentence of 41 years to life in state prison.
