Thousands of residents across Ohio woke up to a statewide AMBER Alert Tuesday morning after a 10 month old Delta resident was determined to be missing.
At around 5:12 AM, the Delta Police Department and Fulton County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at to a home in the 900 block of Fernwood avenue for an apparent gunshot victim.
Upon arriving, officers found Amanda Mangas, 23, injured from a gunshot wound while evidence led officers to believe that her 10 month old son, Winston Ramey, was taken by his father, James Ramey. Officers also believed the victim’s mother, Deborah Mangas may have also been taken and in the company of Ramey. Miss Mangas was pronounced dead soon after at the University of Toledo Medical Center.
After a traffic stop without incident, James Ramsey, Deborah Mangas, and the child were found safe in Fulton County, IN, about 150 miles from the Delta residence. Police believe Ramsey was traveling to his mother’s residence in Illinois.
The frantic initial call to 911, omitting details requested by the operator, was determined to have been made by Deborah Mangas, presumably already being held against her will.
After being extradited to the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, Ramsey appeared before Judge Colin McQuade in the Fulton County Eastern District Court via a video feed on Thursday. He was arraigned for violating terms of a protection order, for previously sending threatening social media messages to Miss Mangas, a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $1,000 and six months imprisonment, and aggravated murder, for which, if convicted, Ramsey could face life in prison. Ramsey’s bail is set at $1 million.
Chief Nathan Hartsock of the Delta Police Department said in a press conference Tuesday that a protection order was previously taken out in Lucas County by Mangas against Ramsey, and law enforcement had previously been dispatched to the same residence a week prior.
Mangas, a 2013 graduate of Delta High School, is said to have expressed concern for her son’s well being, instead of her own, in her final moments of life. She is mourned by the small community and remembered for her heart of gold and glowing smile.
More charges are expected to be filed against Ramsey while the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation take over the investigation.
Cory Johnson may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com