HELL’S KITCHEN, Manhattan (WABC) — The Office of New York’s Chief Medical Examiner has ruled in the deaths of two men who died after being beaten and beaten after a night out at gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen.
The 2022 deaths of John Umberger and Julio Ramirez were ruled homicides after they were given drugs containing fentanyl.
Ramirez, 25, was found dead in the back of a taxi with his bank accounts drained after a night out at the Ritz Bar and Lounge.
Umberger, 33, was found dead in the East 61st Street apartment where he had lived since coming to New York on business.
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The deaths of Ramirez and Umberger, first reported by their families, have drawn public attention to several drug and robbery schemes, some involving members of the gay community, that have resulted in seven overdose deaths.
A medical examiner’s determination that a death was a homicide now allows detectives and prosecutors to begin charging suspects in other similar deaths.
before, Kenwood Allen was charged in two similar but currently unrelated deaths.
The investigation is ongoing, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
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