Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Bisexual Man Shot to Death Outside His Home; Suspect Arrested and Charged with Hate Crime

Juan Ceballos, 20, gunned down because he was bisexual [KESQ photo].

Juan Ceballos, 20, gunned down because he was bisexual [KESQ photo].

Mecca, California – A 20-year-old openly bisexual man was murdered in his car as he parked in the driveway of his home.  Juan Ceballos, a student at the College of the Desert, had just returned home Sunday night, July 13, from work with pizza for his four siblings and his mother when a co-worker who had been lying in wait opened fire, fatally wounding him. According to KESQ TV News, his younger brother, 17-year-old Sergio Ceballo, rushed outside to find his brother Juan dying behind the wheel of his car.  Sergio and the family say that the reason for the murder of their beloved Juan was because of irrational hatred for Juan’s bisexuality.  Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies agreed with the motive for Juan’s murder.  After the arrest of Miguel Angel Bautista Ramirez, 25, of Thermal, California, on Monday, July 28, he was charged with felony murder, hate crime, and lying in wait. The Desert Sun reports that prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Ramirez citing “bias against” gays and bisexual persons. On August 1, Ramirez pled not guilty to the charges.  He is being held without bail, and will be arraigned on August 11. Because the attack was bias-driven, premeditated, and fatal, Ramirez could face the death penalty.

“I have to step up now, like [Juan] did,” Sergio said to KESQ. Juan Ceballos was a well-regarded, happy person who worked hard to help out his mother and four siblings.  He had worked in the agricultural fields to pay personal bills and help support his family, but currently was working two jobs to make ends meet: at a gas station and a Pizza Hut.  Upon hearing the news of Ramirez’s arrest, Sergio said, “If he is the one who killed [Juan], I hope they keep him off the street so that no other family will have to go through the pain we are.”  When asked about how someone could kill another person because of his sexual orientation, Sergio said wiping away tears, “If that is the reason [Ramirez] did that to him, I don’t even know why.”  Speaking with KMIR NBC News, Sergio said that his brother’s killer was “stupid” to do such a thing because of sexuality.   “[Juan] was more like a father, not as a brother, he was head of the house, he was our support,” said Sergio.  “He said he was looking for happiness in a world full of evil,” Sergio continued, “maybe he was right. The world is full of evil, and I don’t know why they ever did this to him.  He was our guide. Everything we have now we owe to him. I’m going to continue with all of this, but now I’m going to have to do this without him,” Sergio concluded.

Juan’s mother, Maria Teresa Mendez, said, her son was “a happy person who tried to guide his siblings to do good in life.  I expect justice for the person who did this.”

August 7, 2014 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Bisexual persons, California, GLBTQ, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Latino and Latina Americans, LGBTQ | , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bisexual Man Shot to Death Outside His Home; Suspect Arrested and Charged with Hate Crime