LANCASTER, Pa. — Two Lancaster women were convicted last Friday of breaking into a Lancaster Township home and assaulting a teenage victim in August 2022, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
Jajaira Ramirez, 38, and Najee Ramirez, 26, both of the 700 block of Sterling Place, were found guilty by jury of burglary, corruption of minors, and simple assault following a three-day trial before Lancaster County Judge Jeffrey Conrad.
The jury returned its verdict after nearly four hours of deliberations, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lapp prosecuted the case and showed the Ramirezes were two of four defendants involved in a verbal argument that turned physical with two victims in the 800 block of Sterling Place.
Jajaira Ramirez's teenage daughter, who is also a suspect in the incident, had her case resolved in juvenile court. She was friends with the teenage victim prior to the incident, but a disagreement between them led to the confrontation. The adult defendants encouraged the teenagers to settle their problems by physically fighting, prosecutors said.
The final codefendant, Aisha Kemmerer, has a pending court case, according to prosecutors.
"Not only did the defendants break into and start a series of fights inside of the victims’ home, but they put two teenage girls at the center of the attack,” Lapp said. “The involvement of the defendant's own daughter in the commission of the crime and making the victim's daughter the focus of the attack makes their conduct particularly reprehensible."
Lapp presented evidence and testimony that the defendants were outside of the victim’s home arguing with the victims, who were at a second-story window, on August 11, 2022, around 8:45 p.m.
The argument escalated and the defendants broke through the victims’ locked front door before running up the steps to assault the teenager, according to testimony.
Lapp also showed the jury threatening Facebook voice messages from Jajaira Ramirez to the teenage victim’s mother leading up to the altercation.
Defense counsel argued the defendants did not have the specific intent to commit a crime when they entered the victims’ home, and that the testimony of the victims wasn’t consistent or credible.
Najee Ramirez failed to appear for trial and a subsequent bail hearing on May 13, 2024. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest, according to prosecutors.
The Commonwealth’s motion to secure bail for Jajaira Ramirez was denied by Judge Conrad and she remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Both defendants will be sentenced by Judge Conrad at a later date.
