PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Satnam Rattu, Homicide Unit
Richard Russell Harden was convicted by a jury of the second-degree murder of Evaristo Ramirez and assault with a deadly weapon.
On February 16, 2009, Richard Harden walked into the Home Depot on Folsom Blvd. and attacked an employee with a hammer. Harden was booked into jail and placed in a cell with Evaristo Ramirez. The next day, Ramirez was found unresponsive in the cell. An autopsy revealed that Ramirez was strangled to death and had multiple blunt force injuries to his head and torso.
Harden faces a maximum sentence of 19 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for September 14, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. in Department 19 before the Honorable Ernest Sawtelle.
