Woman charged in crash that killed off-duty Bridgeport officer and girlfriend expected to face additional charge
Melissa Esperanza Ramirez, 27, of Stamford, made a brief appearance in Danbury Superior Court Tuesday so Judge Sean McGuinness could modify the requirements of her bond.
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The woman charged in a crash that killed an off-duty Bridgeport police officer and his girlfriend is expected to face an additional charge in the case—operating a motor vehicle without a license.
Melissa Esperanza Ramirez, 27, of Stamford, made a brief appearance in Danbury Superior Court Tuesday so Judge Sean McGuinness could modify the requirements of her bond.
Ramirez is still in custody, but McGuinness said if she’s able to post the $300,000 bond, it can only be done at the courthouse after a hearing in front of him to discuss release conditions beyond GPS monitoring.
The Danbury State's Attorney used the hearing to address some online misinformation about Ramirez's identity and the case.
“The state would like to clarify the facts for the record,” State’s Attorney Stacey Haupt Miranda told the court.
Ramirez is charged with manslaughter, driving under the influence, traveling unreasonably fast and failure to drive in the proper lane for a crash in Danbury that killed Cooper Whiteside, 38, and his girlfriend, Britanny Islami, 34. It happened on Sugar Hollow Road on July 13 around 2:45 a.m.
Miranda said on Tuesday that Ramirez, “admitted to police that she does not, nor has she ever had, a driver's license.”
Miranda explained the state will be adding a charge of operating a motor vehicle without a license at a later date.
The clarification came after Ramirez's arrest warrant indicated she did have a valid license with an address in New Britain.
“After further investigation, it was determined that somehow, some way, there are databases throughout the system that have merged the personal information of this individual with another person with the same name and date of birth,” Miranda stated.
That mistake led to online controversy after the federal government confirmed Ramirez is undocumented and there is an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainer for her. Government officials said social media posts falsely accused the New Britain woman, who’s a United States citizen and legally registered to vote, with illegal voting, leading her to receive threats.
Last week, Danbury police posted to Facebook about the misidentification, writing, “We urge the public to verify information before sharing it and to refrain from misidentifying or implicating individuals who are not connected to this case.”
Ramirez's attorney, Daniel Thibodeau, previously said she was born in Mexico, but spent her whole life in Connecticut.
According to Ramirez’s arrest warrant, her blood alcohol level was .14—nearly twice the legal limit—when her SUV crossed into oncoming traffic and hit Whiteside’s motorcycle head-on, killing him and Islami at the scene.
Ramirez also tested positive for cannabis, per her warrant, which said police found an empty bottle of Corona beer, an empty 12 ounce can of Corona beer, and a THC vape cartridge.
Investigators determined Ramirez was traveling 63 mph seconds before the crash and 56 mph at the time of impact, the warrant said. The speed limit there is 45 mph.
She’s due back in court Aug. 31.
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