Gory Prince George's: PG Killer Escapes

(Posted 18 Jan 2009)

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Inmate Escapes From State Prison in Hagerstown; Man Jailed in '07 Pr. George's Slaying.
Post, 18 Jan 2008 (Weil & Zapotosky ).

A convict serving a 40-year sentence for killing a store employee during a robbery in Prince George's County escaped yesterday from a Maryland prison, officials said.

Kandelario Garcia-Ramos, 24, apparently climbed a fence to flee from the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, a state corrections spokesman said.

"It's a dangerous situation when a violent criminal like this escapes his confinement," said a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Prince George's.

The perimeter fence at the medium-security institution is 18 feet tall and topped with razor wire, corrections spokesman Rick Binetti said.

Escapes are "extremely rare," Binetti said.

According to court records, Garcia-Ramos entered an Alford plea last year to a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Fernando Monge, an employee of the Two Brothers Tire City store in the Brentwood area.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to commission of a crime but acknowledges that sufficient evidence exists to support a finding of guilt.

Monge was fatally stabbed Dec. 6, 2007, during what appeared to be a robbery of the store.

Ramon Korionoff, the spokesman for Prince George's state's attorney Glenn F. Ivey, said the stabbing was recorded by a surveillance camera.

A witness told police that he had seen someone rummaging through the store cash register.

Relatives described Monge as an industrious father of three children who often worked six days a week at the store, in the 4300 block of Bladensburg Road.

"He was always working very hard," a relative told a reporter at the time of the killing.

Korionoff said last night that Garcia-Ramos had been fired from his job at the store a few weeks before the killing.

He said police were providing special protection last night for the witnesses who cooperated in the case.

Although no specific threats had been made against witnesses, Korionoff said, authorities intended to take every precaution.

Corrections officials said they think Garcia-Ramos escaped while residents of his housing unit were going to or from breakfast. He might have used clothing to protect himself from the razor wire, they said.

A piece of clothing was found on the fence, officials said.

Garcia-Ramos was described by authorities as Hispanic, 5-foot-4 and 165 pounds with brown eyes, dark hair and a light complexion.

They said he was wearing prison bluejeans and other prison clothing of an unknown nature.

They said he might have been cut when going over or through the wire.

Authorities said the Maryland State Police apprehension team, with special expertise in tracking fugitives, was leading the search, which was continuing last night.

The state police said troopers and sheriff's deputies from Washington County, where the prison is located, were contacting residents of the area to notify them.

Anyone who saw the fugitive was asked to call 301-739-2101.

The state police said Garcia-Ramos was not known to be armed but should be considered dangerous.

The prison houses about 2,200 medium- and minimum-security inmates, according to corrections officials.

The escape was under investigation, they said.

Note: Killers who have been executed can't escape and don't get another opportunity to prey on innocent victims or retaliate against witnesses.