White Teens, Brandon Piekarsky, Colin Walsh, Charged as Adults in Fatal Beating of Illegal Mexican Immigrant Luis Ramirez

(Right top to bottom) Derrick M. Donchak, Brandon J. Piekarsky and Colin Walsh.
Luis Ramirez hours before his death.

According to media reports, three white teens were charged in what was described as an epithet-filled fatal beating of Luis Ramirez, an illegal Mexican immigrant, in Shenandoah.

Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation in the July 12 attack on Luis Ramirez. A third teen, Derrick M. Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. All are from Shenandoah, where the attack occurred.

Additional charges are expected in the case that has roiled Shenandoah, a small, economically depressed town where police have reported friction between whites and a growing Hispanic population.

The suspects played football at Shenandoah Valley High School; Donchak, now enrolled at Bloomsburg University, was the quarterback last season. They ought to kick him off the team for getting arrested.

“As a result of this crime, a young man has lost his life. Many other lives have been devastated, and the borough of Shenandoah has been filled with tensions between many ethnic groups,” Schuylkill County District Attorney James Goodman said.

According to a police affidavit, the defendants and three 17-year-olds encountered Ramirez, 25, and a teenage girl in a park the night of July 12. The youths prodded Ramirez and the girl, saying, “You should get out of this neighborhood” and “Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here,” documents said. After Ramirez and the girl began walking away, someone yelled an ethnic slur at him, court documents said. He responded, “What’s your problem?”

It gets ugly. A fight ensued, during which police said Walsh punched Ramirez in the face. The victim fell and hit his head on the street, leaving him unconscious, after which Piekarsky kicked him in the head, police said.

All three suspects used ethnic slurs during the fight, which ended with Ramirez in convulsions and foaming at the mouth, authorities said. The attackers fled the scene; Ramirez underwent surgery but died July 14 of head injuries. Piekarsky and Walsh were being held without bail, while Donchak was held on $75,000 bail. These monsters do not need to see the outside of a prison for a long time.

Goodman said a fourth teen will be charged as a juvenile with aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation and that charges also will be filed against a man who provided alcohol to the defendants hours before the attack.

This is a really sad story and this young man did not deserve to be treated in this manner, no matter what his immigration status. He did not deserve to die this way. For all those detractors who say that accusations of racism in this country is much ado about nothing, take a look at the picture of Luis Ramirez and you’ll get the answer.

Filed under: Brandon Piekarsky, Colin Walsh, Donald Donchak, Luis Ramirez