Man wanted for cutting off ankle monitor charged with friend's murder

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man already wanted for cutting off his electronic ankle monitor was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with murdering a woman while he was on the run.

CMPD arrested Mario Ramirez-Duarte, 19, around 8 a.m. after swarming a home on Choyce Avenue near Nations Ford Road.

[RELATED: Police identify woman found shot to death outside apartment complex]

Ramirez-Duarte is accused of murdering 20-year-old Shandiin Sanchez on Oct. 27. She was found shot to death outside the River Birch Apartments on Riverbirch Drive.

Sanchez's mother, Kamile Flores, thought the world of her daughter, who lived downstairs from Ramirez-Duarte.

"It's heartbreaking because we have known him since they were kids," Flores said Thursday.

She said Sanchez trusted everyone, even her troubled friend and neighbor, Ramirez-Duarte.

Flores knew the suspect was arrested recently and was on electronic monitoring.

"She, actually, felt safe because he was on the monitor," Flores said. "He couldn't go any further than the bottom of the stairwell."

Sanchez often talked to her neighbor when he stepped outside, the mother said.

(Sanchez)

"She gave him that hope, and she gave him that trust, and he betrayed her," Flores said. "And this was a betrayal of her trust that ended up with her death."

She wants the alleged killer to cooperate with the police and the court system.

"My message to Mario is to be completely honest about every single moment that lead up to my daughter's death," Flores said. "I want him to tell the truth about everything."

Police put out a warning about Ramirez-Duarte just weeks before the murder. They said he cut off his electronic monitor.

[ALSO READ: Police chief, leaders address violent crimes in Queen City]

Ramirez-Duarte has several charges against him this year. He was arrested on April 3 on numerous charges and released two days later. He was arrested again on July 10 and released three days later.

Ramirez-Duarte was back in jail four days after that for interfering with an electronic monitor, and he was released on Aug. 6.

He was arrested a fourth time on Sept. 25 and released with an electronic monitor on Sept. 28.

Police said he cut the monitor off on Oct. 10 and killed his neighbor three weeks later.

Ramirez-Duarte will likely be indicted next week and with all of his charges. He has court dates now on Nov. 18, 24 and Dec. 4.

Ramirez-Duarte has been charged with murder, two counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, possession of stolen goods, damage to property and interfering with an electronic monitoring device.

Officers believe that suspects being allowed out of jail on electronic monitors only to be accused of more crimes is increasing Charlotte's violent crime rate.

Cox Media Group