Former prison guard arraigned in inmate shooting death

By Ken Ritter, Associated Press

Published Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | 8:21 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | 9:41 a.m.

A lawyer for a former Nevada state prison guard trainee said today he looks forward to answering involuntary manslaughter and reckless disregard charges in court in the shotgun killing of a handcuffed inmate in a prison hallway 18 months ago.

Raynaldo John Ruiz Ramos and defense attorney Joshua Tomsheck didn't comment about the case outside a brief initial appearance before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz.

Nevada state Attorney General prosecutors Jeffrey Segal and Jason Gunnell also declined to comment.

The judge scheduled an Aug. 2 preliminary hearing. A conviction on both felonies could get Ramos up to nine years in prison.

The case stems from the November 2014 killing of Carlos Perez Jr., 28.

Another inmate, Andrew Arevalo, was wounded when he and Perez were shot while they brawled in a hallway at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, about 45 miles outside Las Vegas.

Ramos isn't charged with injuring Arevalo, who is now being held at the maximum security state prison in Ely. Arevalo is serving a two- to six-year prison sentence for a 2013 burglary conviction.

A lawyer for Perez's family, Cal Potter, alleges that Ramos and other guards staged a "gladiator-like scenario" to let the inmates fight before they were shot, by allowing the two inmates into a shower hallway in a section of the prison where inmates are supposed to be kept apart for safety.

Two other guards resigned after prison officials found they made false statements and neglected their duties in the shooting. They were not charged criminally.

The Nevada Department of Corrections dismissed Ramos in April 2015.

He is believed to be the first former Nevada prison guard charged with shooting an inmate since Paul Chaffee in 2007. Chaffee, who also worked at High Desert State Prison, was acquitted of battery with a deadly weapon.