A Holyoke man charged with murder is being held without the right to bail following his arraignment Thursday morning, a day after a pregnant woman was shot and her newborn baby died in a deadly gunfight in the city.
Alejandro Ramos, 22, appeared in Holyoke District Court and Judge William Rooney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Ramos appeared handcuffed and with a bandaged hand for his brief arraignment Thursday.
He is the second suspect identified by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office in the shooting that took place near the intersection of Sargeant and Maple streets before 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4.
“This was a gun battle in broad daylight at a busy intersection here in the city of Holyoke,” said Matthew Green, assistant Hampden County district attorney, during the arraignment. “This individual, as well as two others, were all involved in that altercation which took place at the intersection outside the market.”
Green said a bullet struck a passing bus and wounded a woman 8 months pregnant and whose “unborn baby died as a result of the injury.”
Almonte Market 2 at the corner of Sargeant and Maple streets in Holyoke. Photo by Irene Rotondo
Three men were involved in the altercation and a stray bullet struck a bus and hit an uninvolved woman who was seated in the bus, Hampden District Attorney spokesperson James Leydon previously said.
The woman was brought to Baystate Medical Center in critical condition. The baby was delivered and needed “life-saving medical services” but did not survive, Leydon said.
Leydon said the mother was in critical condition on Wednesday night but he did not know her condition as of Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.
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Earlier on Thursday, authorities identified Johnluis Sanchez, 30, of Holyoke, as another suspect in the shooting. He remains hospitalized and is expected to be arraigned on murder and other charges when his condition allows, according to Leydon.
Green said in court that not all suspects are yet in custody and described the investigation as “very sensitive and ongoing.”
In a previous statement, the Hampden District Attorney’s Office had said all suspects were believed to be identified and one was in the hospital and another in custody.
Jose Almonte, the manager of Almonte Market #2 in Holyoke, said he caught much of the incident on his video surveillance cameras.
A massive monitor display facing the cash register showed views from at least eight cameras the manager set up inside and out of the store. Almonte said Wednesday night he’d turned over the footage to law enforcement for the investigation.
Holyoke officers cleaning up the scene on Oct. 4. Photo by Irene Rotondo
Holyoke Mayor Joshua A. Garcia said he’s lost his patience for this “nonsense.”
“I want the public to know that I am equally outraged and frustrated with these senseless acts of violence and illegal activity on our streets,” Garcia wrote on Facebook Wednesday night. “I struggle with it every day attempting to offer a balanced solution. Quite frankly, I have lost my patience. I plan to work with all resources available to me to push this nonsense out of our city.”
And Gov. Maura Healey called the shooting “senseless.”
“Every life lost to gun violence is a tragedy, especially those taken far, far too soon,” she wrote Wednesday night on X, formerly known as Twitter. “My heart goes out to the victims, families, and all of Holyoke in the wake of this afternoon’s senseless shooting.”
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Just hours before the deadly shooting on Wednesday, the Holyoke Police Department made an announcement pushing the public to call 911 when they hear gunshots, according to State House News Service.
The department stated only 12% of potential shooting incidents picked up by new police surveillance systems were actually reported as 911 calls from residents during the technology’s first six months of use.
There were 117 activations of the ShotSpotter gunfire-detecting technology stationed throughout 2 square miles in the city from March through August. The devices detect and triangulate the location of potential gunfire, the outlet reported.
Out of 454 total potential shootings detected by the new technology, Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt said the city got only 14 calls to 911 reporting those potential shootings, the news service reported.
Officials said multiple people called 911 after the shooting Wednesday afternoon.
The incident is under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Hampden District Attorney’s Office and the Holyoke Police Department.
