'Patriot' Who Fatally Shot Man In His Head Sentenced: Gwinnett D.A.

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A 35-year-old self-proclaimed "patriot" has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of shooting and killing an immigrant he claimed was envious of his U.S. citizenship, prosecutors said Monday.

The Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said Jorge Alberto Ramirez, 35, shot 23-year-old Pedro Lopez-Belloso in the back of head while in a car on April 14, 2021, killing him. The district attorney's office said Lopez-Belloso was an immigrant associate.

“This was a cruel and violent way to die,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a news release. “We grieve with Mr. Lopez-Belloso’s family and loved ones. In prosecuting this death, we send the message that no one has the right to determine who deserves to die.”

Ramirez and Lopez-Belloso were riding in an SUV at Jimmy Carter Boulevard that evening, when Ramirez claimed to feel nervous because Lopez-Belloso was armed, the district attorney's office said. Ramirez had been riding in the backseat while Lopez-Belloso was in the front passenger seat.

Due to a "weird feeling," the district attorney's office said Ramirez "chambered a round into the AR-15 rifle." The rifle soon fired, hitting Lopez-Belloso in the back of the head, the district attorney's office said.

Ramirez was accused of first telling investigators that the rifle was sitting by his side when it mistakenly fired; but then, the district attorney's office said Ramirez told prosecutors a different story nearly a year later.

He was accused of telling prosecutors that he had fallen asleep with the rifle propped up next to him, and the rifle fell over and fired.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation analyzed the rifle and determined the weapon did not accidentally misfire and was "discharged by a human pulling the trigger," the district attorney's office said.

Prosecutors said Ramirez "intended to shoot Lopez-Belloso." After being detained, Ramirez was accused of telling police during a recorded conversation that "he shot Lopez-Belloso because the 'immigrant want(s) to envy, hate and be jealous on an American citizen of the United States of America.'”

According to prosecutors, Ramirez continued to say, “… 'Our oath is if you try our patriots, our patriots will respond with the almighty great accuracy and definition of a solution ... It’s simple, bro. I don’t give a ---- about no murders, I don’t give a ---- about no kidnappings. I don’t give a ---- about nothing ...'".

Ramirez was convicted of three counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the district attorney's office said, adding he was sentenced to life in prison plus five years.