SPRINGFIELD — Edwin Hernandez, the man charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Isaiah Ramos Tuesday in Springfield, also has a pending case in which he allegedly shot at a group of people in in Chicopee last year.
When Hernandez, 20, of Holyoke, was arraigned in November in Chicopee District Court, the prosecution asked that he be held without right to bail, saying he was too dangerous to be released under any conditions. He was found to be dangerous — but was released on conditions, said James Leydon, spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.
The conditions included staying away from the victims, no drugs or alcohol, and no firearms.
A pretrial conference in that case is scheduled for July 17. The case has remained in Chicopee District Court rather than moving to Hampden Superior Court, which handles more serious cases, through an indictment.
Even if Hernandez had been held without right to bail in November, state law under the dangerousness category would have limited his time in custody to 120 days.
In the Chicopee case Hernandez is charged with four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and possession of a firearm and ammunition without a firearms identification card.
He was accused of firing as many as six shots at a group of men standing outside an apartment in Chicopee on April 7, 2018. Nobody was injured.
On Wednesday, Springfield District Court Judge Philip Contant ordered Hernandez held without right to bail on the murder charge.
Hernandez was arrested at 9 a.m. Wednesday on Appleton Street in Holyoke by members of the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force, Springfield, Holyoke and state police, and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, said Springfield police spokesman Ryan Walsh.
Hernandez was charged with murder, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a loaded firearm.
He is accused of shooting Ramos, 19, around 7:30 p.m. at Liberty and Genesee streets in the city’s Liberty Heights neighborhood.
A police report in Hernandez’s court file said Ramos was shot in the head.
The report said several witnesses who happened to be walking or driving in the area were interviewed. A compilation of their observations had Ramos getting into Hernandez’s car, with loud arguing heard. The car went a short distance and Ramos got out, slamming the door. Hernandez got out of the driver’s side and shot Ramos, a witness reported.