El Cerro Mission man charged with first-degree murder

MONTEREY PARK ­ ­— A Valencia County man is in jail on a no-bond hold after shooting a friend in the chest, killing him on New Year’s Eve.

Angel Ramos, 21, of El Cerro Mission, is charged with murder in the first degree in the death of Jesus Olivas.

Shortly after 10 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31, Valencia County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a home on Santa Cruz Road in Monterey Park, responding to a call reporting a gunshot wound.

When deputies arrived, they found Olivas dead on the ground outside his home, with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Ramos and another man at the scene were interviewed by deputies. The man said he’d picked up Ramos that evening and the two of them went to Olivas’ home on Santa Cruz. Ramos left briefly to pick up a speaker from his house, and when he returned, the three began drinking.

“... approximately 20 to 30 minutes went by when suddenly (the man) heard a loud pop,” according to the probable cause determination filed in court.

The man told deputies he was looking at his phone to change a song and didn’t see the cause of the pop. When he looked up, he realized Olivas had been shot. Olivas “went around the table and immediately outside,” he told deputies.

Ramos followed and began performing CPR on Olivas while on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. The other man took over CPR on Olivas, continuing until emergency personnel arrived at the house.

The man said there wasn’t any conflict among the three that evening and “it was all positive energy.” The three were sitting at Olivas’ kitchen table, with two handguns belonging to Ramos and Olivas.

Ramos told deputies he and Olivas had bought the guns just the weekend prior to the shooting and wanted to “share their excitement” with their mutual friend, who asked Ramos how he cleans the weapon.

While attempting to remove the slide from the 9mm gun, Ramos said he pulled it towards the rear of the handgun, then tried to push it forward.

“He reported that he was not very familiar with the pistol due to him recently purchasing it and it being his first firearm,” the document reads.

Initially thinking the round only grazed Olivas’ arm, Ramos said he immediately said they should go to a hospital, “leading the two scrambling toward the front door.”

The probable cause statement describes Ramos as being visibly shocked, notably upset, crying, swaying and having notable variability in his pitch during the interview.

Ramos was booked into the Valencia County Detention Center on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.