Saturday, May 22, 2010

San Antonio, TX: Police: Man kills girlfriend, stuffs body in closet

By Valentino Lucio and Peter J. Holley - Express-News
Web Posted: 05/22/2010 12:00 CDT

A San Antonio man with a violent past and a history of aggression toward women was arrested Thursday night after being accused of killing his girlfriend and stuffing her body in a closet inside the couple's apartment, officials said.
Jacinto Riccardo Ragland, 40, remained in the Bexar County Jail on Friday on a murder charge. His bail was set at $250,000.

Ragland, an ex-convict from Atlanta, where he belonged to a gang called “The Doom,” attacked Ramiya Dawson, 25, at the Sentinel Pointe apartments in the 1200 block of East Mulberry Avenue after finding text messages from another man on her phone, police said.

Neighbors said Ragland had been living in the apartment with Dawson and her mother for about six months. They described him as a jealous man who had threatened his girlfriend before.

Court documents show Ragland also has two protective orders filed against him in Bexar County from other women. Attempts to reach the women and their attorneys were unsuccessful Friday.

Ragland was arrested about 9 p.m. Thursday after police received a tip that he had walked into a convenience store in the 500 block of Eleanor Avenue and told the clerk he had just killed his girlfriend.

When the clerk urged the man to call an ambulance, Ragland refused, telling him he planned to wait until nightfall to call some friends to help him dispose of the body, according to a police report.

The clerk called police, who went to Ragland's apartment. They found him with his girlfriend's mother, who didn't know her daughter had been killed, police said.

Police found Dawson's body in a closet under a pile of clothes.

This is the second time Ragland has been arrested in connection with a person's death.

He pleaded guilty 16 years ago to being involved in the torture-slaying of 13-year-old girl in Atlanta. Because of his involvement, Ragland is a registered sex offender.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ragland received a 15-year sentence in exchange for testifying against five co-defendants.

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