Mixed Reaction : Murder Arrest in Hallway Is Talk of Santa Ana High

Frank Serratos was in his Santa Ana High School English class at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, as usual, when one of the vice principals walked in and led Carlos Alberto Tirado out of the classroom.

The next thing Serratos heard were handcuffs locking and someone reading Tirado his rights to have an attorney.

Not until Wednesday morning did Serratos learn what people were going to be talking about for most of the school day. Tirado had been arrested in connection with the 1985 death of his former girlfriend, Norma Isela Ramirez, 14.

Murder ‘Shocked Whole School’

Serratos was one of the students at Santa Ana High School who also attended nearby Willard Junior High School with Norma Ramirez and Tirado. The murder “shocked the whole school” at the time, according to Serratos, 17, who said he had known Norma since elementary school.

Tirado’s attorney, Edison W. Miller, has said his client is innocent.

Tirado, who was interviewed by investigators after the incident two years ago but never detained, was in Juvenile Court on Wednesday. His scheduled detention hearing--to determine if he must remain in detention or can be released to his family--was rescheduled to Friday, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles J. Middleton. Tirado is being held by juvenile authorities.

“In all likelihood, he will not be released to his family,” Middleton said.

Tirado was under 16 at the time of the crime and cannot be tried as an adult. He could be held by the California Youth Authority until age 25 if the murder charge is sustained under the juvenile code, according to Middleton.

At Santa Ana High School on Wednesday many of the students interviewed expressed a mixed reaction to the murder and Tirado’s arrest.

Some of them said they thought the case had long been buried because the prime suspect had been questioned but never arrested. Others defended Tirado, saying “he loved (Norma Ramirez) too much.” And yet others believed that someone had given police a false tip to collect a reward that had been set up by the girl’s uncle for information leading to an arrest.

No New Evidence Mentioned

Police have said that Tirado has been the “prime suspect” since Norma Ramirez’s mutilated body was found on a bike trail along the Santa Ana River on May 28, 1985. They have not said what new evidence, if any, has turned up to link Tirado to the murder.

Some of the students interviewed Wednesday said they began pointing fingers at Tirado after the girl’s body was found and police began asking him questions.

“People were going up to him and saying, ‘You did it,’ ” Serratos said. “I went up to him myself and told him that if what they were saying was true, I was going to get him.”

Angel Arvizu, 17, who knows Tirado, said the arrest made him remember that Tirado never spoke about his girlfriend after the incident. “He acted as if he never knew her. People asked him, and he’d never talk about her,” Arvizu said.

Before that, he said, Tirado would constantly speak about her and the gifts he and she were buying for each other.

“He was in love,” said 18-year-old Albert, a friend of Tirado who did not want to give his last name. “I don’t think he’s guilty. If he loved her that much he wouldn’t have killed her. He was not crazy,” he said.

“I thought they were looking for some nut. I was surprised (by Tirado’s arrest). I had thought it was done and over with a long time ago,” the friend said.

Frank Nerida, 16, another friend of Tirado, described him as a youth who enjoyed riding his motorcycle and lifting weights.

Nerida said he could not believe that Tirado could kill his former girlfriend. “Why would he want to kill his old lady for? I think someone said something just to collect the reward,” Nerida said.

Newspaper Ran Photograph

Ruben Ramirez, the girl’s father, and Javier de la Fuente, her uncle, who owns a local Spanish-language newspaper, said Tuesday that they had been telling police for the last two years that Tirado killed Norma. De la Fuente said Tirado was angry with Norma because she had wanted to date someone else.

De la Fuente’s newspaper, El Sol Latino, was instrumental in helping police identify Norma, who had been reported missing, by running her photograph. De la Fuente subsequently offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Investigators have called the case “perplexing” from the start. According to police, Norma received a telephone call the night of her death and left her home. Santa Ana Police Sgt. John McClain told reporters Tuesday that police believe that the girl was “inveigled” into coming to the bike trail by someone she knew.

Times staff writer Sandy Crockett contributed to this report.