Killer who won juror’s heart gets life sentence

A convicted killer who exchanged steamy letters with a woman who served as a juror in his trial has been sentenced to spend life in prison.

District Judge Valerie Adair sentenced Ricky Vazquez, 27, in the drug-related slaying of Richard Morris in 2006. Vazquez, who was convicted of second-degree murder, will be eligible for parole after 20 years.

The 21-year-old juror who sent Vazquez sexually explicit letters, Marnie Ramirez, attended the sentencing and sat in the front row of the courtroom. She broke out crying after the judge sentenced Vazquez and lingered inside the courtroom until Vazquez was led out and returned to the county jail.

Ramirez, who is married and has a child, said she'll continue to see Vazquez while he's behind bars.

"I fell in love with him," she said. She declined to comment on whether she's separating from her husband but acknowledged that they're having a difficult time.

She said the sentence for Vazquez was appropriate. Just because she sent him letters doesn't mean he deserved less time, she said. She wished, however, that Vazquez wasn't involved in the slaying of Morris.

"I would have liked for it to be different," she said.

Ramirez served in Vaquez's trial last year. She previously said she was a holdout on the jury and wanted to convict Vazquez of voluntary manslaughter.

She began sending Vazquez letters on Oct. 24, the day Vazquez was convicted. She also visited him at the county jail while he awaited sentencing. In the letters, Ramirez writes that she can't wait to see him in the jail and will send him photos to help his imagination. She also says she wants to show him what a "freak" she is.

"When I feel the need for sex I just get it and I always get what I want," she wrote in one letter.

Adair also sentenced Vazquez's co-defendant, Lee Vincent, 24, to spend life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. A jury convicted Vincent of first-degree murder.

During the sentencing, Vazquez told Morris' family members who were in the courtroom that the murder was a tragedy and that no one deserves to die. Vazquez also said he was caught up in the gang life and drug dealing.

"We choose this," he said. "You got to be prepared to die."

County prosecutor David Stanton told the judge that Vazquez and Vincent robbed and killed Morris and then dumped his body in the middle of the street near Alta Drive and Rainbow Boulevard. As they drove away, witnesses heard the defendants laughing, Stanton said.

Authorities said Morris, 28, was with the defendants because he was trying to buy methamphetamines.

Morris' stepmother, Laura Morris, said that Morris was considering going back to school at the time of his death. She said Morris' mother died in September 2008, about two years after the slaying, from a broken heart.

She described Morris as a fun-loving man who was a San Diego Chargers fan and had a great sense of humor.

"This loss left a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled by anyone else," she said.

DAVID KIHARA Wondering how a local story turned out or what happened to someone in the news? Call the City Desk at 383-0264, and we will try to answer your question in this column.