Who is Laura Michelle Ramriez? Pennsylvania woman gets life in prison for torturing and murdering her 3-year-old stepdaughter
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: A 31-year-old Pennsylvania woman is now going to spend life in prison for the prolonged torture and murder of her three-year-old stepdaughter three years ago.
On Wednesday, September 20, authorities announced that Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer ordered Laura Michelle Ramriez to serve a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole for an additional 37 to 74 years for the execrable 2020 slaying of young Bella Seachrist.
What are the charges against Laura Michelle Ramriez?
Ramriez was found guilty of first-degree murder (life without parole), two counts of aggravated assault (5 to 10 years each), and one count each of endangering the welfare of a child (5 to 10 years), unlawful restraint (2 to 4 years), and conspiracy to commit homicide (20 to 40 years).
Judge Beemer ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
The victim's father is already facing decades behind bars
Although Ramirez is considered to be the architect behind the horrific abuse, Bella’s father, 32-year-old Jose Eduardo Salazar-Ortiz was already convicted on one count each of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and conspiracy to commit homicide in his daughter’s death in May 2023.
Subsequently, he was sentenced to 33 to 66 years in prison.
How did the authorities learn about the abuse?
The defendant's sister, Alexis Herrera, 23, also reportedly took part in abusing Bella and is now set to face trial in January, records show.
Authorities said that prior to her death, Bella was “tortured” and “looked like a child out of a concentration camp.”
According to a press release from the Allegheny County Police Department, officers responded to an emergency call at a residence located on Tenth Street on the afternoon of June 9, 2020, regarding a report that a three-year-old child, who was later identified as Bella, was found “unresponsive” in a bathtub.
“When officers and paramedics arrived, they found the child appearing to be badly bruised and malnourished. Officers and medics performed life-saving measures and transported the child to an area hospital where the child was pronounced deceased,” the release stated according to Law and Crime.
Investigators determined that the victim “suffered from prolonged physical and mental abuse” and that Salazar-Ortiz, Ramriez, and Herrera should be held accountable.
The victim's bones were visible through her skin
According to a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, during Ramriez’s sentencing hearing, the jury box was filled with the first responders who first found Bella.
She was emaciated to the extent that her bones were visible through her skin and so malnourished that her hair was patchy and falling out.
Bella was about to turn four years old and weighed less than 30 pounds.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever really seen a level of malice not only in deed done here, but also in the words of the defendant on many, many occasions,” Judge Beemer reportedly said, referencing the numerous text messages Ramriez sent about Bella.
In many of those messages she reportedly referred to the child as an “animal” and a “b***h” and said that she “hated her with a passion.”
How did Laura Michelle Ramriez torture Bella Seachrist?
The judge also reportedly castigated Ramriez for the horrifying abuse Bella suffered at her hands, which typically included being sexually abused, starved, beaten, tied up, gagged, and stuffed in small dark locked closet.
“There was no other possible result, based on what occurred day after day, week after week, month after month, but for her to die in one of the most horrific ways possible,” Judge Beemer reportedly said.
“The pain, the hunger — I cannot envision a worse fate for that child than the one she suffered at your hands in that house in Oakmont,” the judge added.