Man goes to ex-girlfriend’s work, orders food and then shoots her dead, AZ officials say

A 25-year-old woman was “working to support her family” when her ex-boyfriend shot her dead, Arizona officials said.

Now, Gerardo Vazquez Alvarez is going to prison, according to a June 25 news release by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Alvarez shot his ex-girlfriend, Maria Ledesma-Ramirez in Phoenix, police told CBS 5.

“She was a fighter; her priority always was her kids,” Ramirez’s mother told KPNX. “She went to work, home, and took her kids to work. She was one of those rare moms that cooked her child’s lunch and took it to them at school. She did everything for them.”

In April 2023, Alvarez went to Ramirez’s job at Burger King, officials said.

He first ordered food, then waited for Ramirez to come to the front counter and fatally shot her, prosecutors said.

“Not only did a young mother lose her life that night, but multiple young people were also put in harm’s way and will have to live with the trauma of what they saw and heard due to the defendant’s callous actions,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “In committing this offense, he altered many lives, but most of all, those of his own young children.”

Alvarez argued on the phone with Ramirez about their kids and relationship before the shooting, officials said.

One of Ramirez’s teen co-workers was critically injured during the shooting, officials said.

In April, Alvarez pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree murder, attempt to commit second-degree murder and disorderly conduct, officials said.

“She was an exemplary mother. … She guarded her children so much because they were her greatest treasure, but now she has left such a huge void in us,” Ramirez’s parents said during the trial, according to the release.

He was sentenced to 42 years in prison, the release said. Attorney information for him was not listed in the release.

This story was originally published June 25, 2024 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Man goes to ex-girlfriend’s work, orders food and then shoots her dead, AZ officials say."