Marine dies in Pasadena fight: 3 men charged

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Charges were filed Wednesday against three men in connection with the death of a U.S. Marine in Old Town Pasadena.

Fernando Sabino Ramirez, 25, Jonas Cardenas Ramos, 24 , and Angel Christopher Moroyoqui, 21, were each charged with one count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury. Ramirez was also charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter.

According to Pasadena police, the incident began as a bar fight that spilled outside of IxTapa on the 100 block of East Colorado Boulevard around 1 a.m. Monday.

Ramirez, of Rowland Heights, is accused of punching 25-year-old Joshua Martinez in the head. Ramos, of San Gabriel, and Moroyoqui, of El Monte, allegedly aided Ramirez in the assault.

The street fight was captured by a car's dash cam. The video shows Martinez walking behind someone who appears to be his friend. Within seconds, he is knocked down by a single punch and left lying on the edge of the sidewalk. Moments after he fell, the fight broke up and some of the participants left the scene.

Police say he fell hard on his head and suffered what's described by police as a critical heady injury. He died Tuesday at Huntington Hospital.

A few hours after Martinez was hit, Pasadena police received a call from an El Monte hospital alerting them that two men were being treated for stab wounds they apparently suffered during a fight in Old Town Pasadena. Police later arrested Ramos and Moroyoqui.

Martinez was an active Marine reservist stationed at Camp Pendleton. He did one tour of duty in Afghanistan, according to a friend.

Martinez is remembered as a proud Marine, a stand-up guy, and not the type of person to start a fight.

"We've gone out dozens of times, we've gone everywhere to go to different bars and drink, and just have a good time. We've never gotten in a fight," said Luis Mario Morales. "He's usually the one that calms somebody down before anything escalates, and it sounded like him when he said, 'Let's go somewhere else and avoid the trouble.'"

Ramos and Moroyoqui were arraigned on Wednesday. They pleaded not guilty and their bail was set at $30,000. Ramirez is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

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