Man Gets 50 Years for Murder, Claims Victim Practiced Witchcraft on Him

RUSK � An East Texas man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2012 murder of his ex-girlfriend. According to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, Jose Diaz Perez, 51, was found guilty for murdering Caselin Ramirez on March 17, 2012. Officials tell KETK the couple had separated two weeks prior to the murder. Ramirez reportedly left Perez due to his excessive drinking and controlling behavior.

Perez went to Ramirez’s home, which she shared with her three sons, according to the DA’s Office. Perez showed up just after 1:00 a.m., and shot at Ramirez three times while he was in his truck. Ramirez was hit twice in the chest with one bullet piercing her heart, lung and kidney. Perez then put Ramirez’s body in his truck and drove to land off County Road 4201, where he dumped her body. Perez said her shot Ramirez, by because she first attacked him and practiced witchcraft on him, as well.

During her testimony, Barbara Ward, an ex-wife of Perez, claims the suspect also shot her in the jaw, right shoulder and right arm during an argument in 1986 when she refused to go home with him. Ward had reportedly been staying at her parents’ house when she was confronted by Perez.