People Vs. Vasquez: A Case Study

In the case of People v. Vasquez, a horrible crime was committed by the defendant, Jesus Vasquez, because he was upset with his girlfriend, Abigail Ramirez, for leaving him and allegedly seeing her ex-boyfriend. Instead of choosing to talk to his ex-girlfriend, Abigail Ramirez, he decided to forcefully break into her home, push her mother down on to the ground, then chase Abigail to the restroom where he violently and horrendously murdered her. There were many primary and secondary victims in this case and left people in pain from his terrible criminal act. Although the defense tries to prove that it was Heat of Passion and that the defendant did not know what he was doing, the evidence proves otherwise. The video shows evidence of shared

responsibility by facilitation of the deceased’s sister, Elsa, and shared responsibility by precipitation by the defendant’s brother, Jorge. The video also shows proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Jesus Vasquez, was guilty of committing the crime of first degree murder against Abigail Ramirez.
The acts of Jesus Vasquez caused so many people pain and hardships. Not only was Abigail Ramirez’s family affected by the loss of a family member, but Vasquez’s family suffers now that he has been imprisoned. Direct or primary victims are the individuals who suffer the physical, economic, or emotional harm firsthand. They are the people who experience the most damage from the criminal act and its consequences. (Karmen, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, 2013). Abigail Martinez was definitely a primary victim as she is the one who lost her life in the gruesome attack. The prosecutor stated “He took a knife, he drove over to her apartment, he walked up her stairs, he burst through her door, he chased her down, and he stabbed her over, and over, and over, and over. He stabbed her while her mother watched. He stabbed her while she was holding their nine-month-old in her arms.” (Wolf, 2002). Abigail’s mother, Elsa Ramirez, has experienced so much pain, anguish, and torment from this tragic event. Not only were Abigail Ramirez and her mother primary victims, but so was her daughter. Baby Abigail, Abigail Ramirez’s nine month old daughter, now has to grow up without her mother.
Indirect or secondary victims are not immediately involved or physically injured in confrontations. But they might be burdened, even devastated. They are the individuals who were not directly attacked but also suffer financially and emotionally, such as members of the injured party’s family. (Karmen, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, 2013). The most prominent secondary victims in this case would be Elsa Vasquez, Alberto Ramirez Senior, and Alberto Ramirez. These are the immediate family members of Abigail. Elsa Vasquez is Abigail’s sister and the wife of the defendant’s brother, Jorge Vasquez. Alberto Ramirez Senior was Abigail’s father and Alberto Ramirez was Abigail’s brother. Although these family members lost a family member and suffered tremendously by the loss of Abigail, they are secondary victims. They are secondary victims because they were not involved or physically injured in the attack.
Jorge Vasquez, the defendant’s brother and husband of the deceased’s sister, Elsa, is a secondary victim in this case as well.

His brother murdered his wife’s sister. He was affected by the criminal act emotionally. Angry at his brother for his actions and bereaved that he lost his sister-in-law as well as seeing the pain his wife was going through. There is also Roberto “Crazy Boy” Garcia who is the ex-boyfriend of Abigail Ramirez and spoke to her just a day before she was murdered. Although he had just been released from prison and did not have a close relationship with the victim, he was still affected. Abigail was not only his ex-girlfriend but she was also a friend of his. Secondary victims are not limited to only special relationships such as knowing the victim or being neighbors or friends. These types of victims are the people who are affected, just not as severely as the primary victims. In this case, the secondary victims also include Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg, Judge Hammes, the bailiffs in the court room, the jury members, and the guests in the courtroom. These people are not directly involved or affected by the loss of Abigail Ramirez but are emotionally affected by the facts of the case.

In the video of the case of People v. Vasquez, there was evidence of shared responsibility by two of the victim’s family members. Shared responsibility, by definition, is the perspective that the offender does not bear total responsibility for the criminal act, and that some of the blame falls either on the victim or the social system, or both. Summed up, shared responsibility is a possible explanation for why a particular person was harmed by a certain offender. (Karmen, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology,

2013)
There are three types of shared responsibility: facilitation, precipitation, and provocation. Facilitation is the careless or thoughtless behavior that makes a criminal’s task easier. Those who negligently and unwittingly assist their offenders share a minor amount of blame. Precipitation is a situation in which the person who is targeted may be considered partly at fault for attracting the offender’s interest or attention prior to an attack. The individual who gets hurt contributed significantly to the outbreak of violence is precipitation. Provocation is an act that triggers, instigates, or incites someone who was not criminally inclined to commit an unlawful attack such as the injured party instigating an attack that would not have taken place otherwise. (Karmen, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, 2013).
The main primary victim, Abigail Ramirez, did not have any shared responsibility in the crime ensued against her. She did not taunt the offender, agitate him, provoke him, or otherwise lead him to get upset and hurt her. Elsa Vasquez and Jorge Vasquez, however, did have some shared responsibility in the crime. The video states that Elsa Vasquez told her sister via phone that the defendant was dancing at a wedding with another female. Elsa then told her husband, Jorge, that Abigail would “get back at him” and stated that “he figured out” how she would get back at him. Elsa said that she wanted her husband to tell Jesus that dancing at the wedding with another female was disrespectful to her and that she did not know that her husband would tell his brother the things that he did. Elsa felt remorseful for telling her husband about the conversation and wished she could take it back. (Wolf, 2002). Even though Elsa did not intentionally tell her husband so he would tell Jesus and get him upset, she still feels partly responsible her sister’s death. Jorge Vasquez also shares some of the responsibility in the crime that was committed. His partial responsibility was more severe than Elsa’s as he intentionally told Jesus information that was untrue and could be classified as precipitation. After the phone call that Abigail received from Elsa, Jorge said his wife told him that Abigail said she was with Crazy Boy the day before the wedding. On the ride to work the next day, Jorge told his brother that Abigail was with her ex-boyfriend the day before the wedding. Roberto “Crazy Boy” Garcia stated this was untrue in court. (Wolf, 2002) Hearing that Abigail was with her ex-boyfriend, Crazy Boy, just a day before the wedding is what sent Jesus over the edge. It upset him enough for him to leave his job to go to Abigail’s house, break down the door, and violently murder her. Jorge did not tell his brother that Abigail was with her ex-boyfriend in hopes that he would confront her and hurt her. His telling of the false information was, in fact, a significant contributing force in the murder of his sister-in-law, Abigail. With the untrue information being told to Jesus and leading him to hurt Abigail is why Jorge’s actions were considered to be precipitation.
There is no doubt that Jesus Vasquez’s actions were heinous. He intentionally murdered Abigail Ramirez over information that he believed to be true that was told to him by his brother, Jorge Vasquez. He murdered Abigail in front of her mother, Elsa Ramirez, and while she was holding their nine month old daughter, Baby Abigail. That is why Abigail Ramirez, Elsa Ramirez, and Baby Abigail are all primary victims. The family members of Abigail Ramirez and Jesus Vasquez along with the people in the courtroom, who may have been disturbed by the facts and photos of the case, are the secondary victims. Although they were not directly involved in the case, they were still affected by the consequences of his Jesus Vasquez’s actions. Abigail’s sister, Elsa Vasquez, shared minimal responsibility by facilitation in the crime that occurred because she told her husband, Jorge, about the conversation between herself and Abigail. Jorge Vasquez shares responsibility by precipitation in the actions of his brother because he intentionally told Jesus untrue information which led Jesus to confront Abigail and murder her.