A Thurston County Superior Court commissioner has denied bail to a 35-year-old Olympia man accused of murdering a Chehalis man whose body was found in a ditch on April 25.
Lorenzo Ramirez, a U.S. Army veteran, is the second person to be arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and one of four people arrested in connection with the death of Jose Luis Alejo-Tamayo, 37. Deputies arrested Ramirez on Monday and he made his preliminary appearance in court on Tuesday.
Court Commissioner Nate Kortokrax found probable cause for the alleged crime and set no bail, saying Ramirez could pose a substantial danger to the community and may fail to appear in court.
He also set bail at $50,000 for Carly Rose Lorentzen Buckner, 31, who is accused of rendering criminal assistance in the first-degree in connection with Alejo-Tamayo’s death.
Deputies arrested Lorentzen Buckner, also of Olympia, on Monday. In setting the bail amount, Kortokrax said she may fail to appear in court or interfere in the case.
Lorentzen Buckner is the second person to be accused of rendering criminal assistance in the first-degree in connection with the case.
Rochelle Lee Schneberger, 31, already was charged with first-degree murder in the case and is being held in Thurston County Jail on no bail. She now also is charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, Olivia Farrar Ingram-Legvold, 30, has been charged with rendering criminal assistance in the first degree and is being held in the same jail in lieu of $50,000.
All four are barred from contacting each other and are due back in court on May 11 for their arraignment hearings.
A probable cause statement, signed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Scott Jackson, describes law enforcement’s investigation into the alleged murder.
According to the statement, Thurston County deputies arrived at the 2500 block of 12th Avenue Northeast on April 25 after a jogger reported finding a man’s body at 7:49 a.m.
The next day, an autopsy confirmed Alejo-Tamayo had died from a single gunshot to the head, the statement says.
Law enforcement arrested Schneberger and Ingram-Legvold on April 28 after finding evidence that tied them to Alejo-Tamayo, the statement claims.
Both allegedly told detectives they met with Alejo-Tamayo to retrieve a dog they claim he took from them during a debt dispute, according to the statement.
Prosecutor Jackson alleges Schneberger and now Ramirez rode in a car with Alejo-Tamayo right before his death. He also claims Ingram-Legvold later attempted to conceal and paint the vehicle at a residence.
After arresting Schneberger and Ingram-Legvold, detectives retrieved video evidence from the Martin Way Diner and Northwest Hearth & Home, both located on Fourth Avenue in Olympia, less than a mile from where Alejo-Tamayo’s body was found, according to the statement.
The videos allegedly show Ramirez exiting Schneberger’s car at 7:41 a.m., about eight minutes before Alejo-Tamayo’s body was found, the statement says. A person detectives identified as Schneberger then drives the car away, per the statement.
The statement claims Ramirez appears to throw a phone into a pond during the video and he is seen with a red stain on his left shoe. When detectives retrieved the phone, they determined it belonged to Alejo-Tamayo, according to the statement.
Witnesses allegedly told detectives they saw a man matching Ramirez’s appearance in the car with Schneberger and Alejo-Tamayo around 6:51 a.m., the prosecutor’s statement claims.
The statement says deputies located Ramirez Monday at a mobile home park on Case Road Southwest in Thurston County. A detective claims they also saw Lorentzen Buckner at that location with Ramirez, per the statement.
Prosecutor Jackson alleges Lorentzen Buckner had been driving Ramirez around and did not notify law enforcement despite knowing Ramirez was involved in the death of Alejo-Tamayo.
After interviewing them both, detectives arrested Lorentzen Buckner and Ramirez and booked them into the Thurston County jail.
In a Monday news release, the Thurston County Sheriff’s office said more search warrants are expected to be served and there may be more arrests in connection with the case.
