Brothers found guilty of murdering elderly man who intervened in argument

SAN BERNARDINO — A guilty verdict on first degree murder was handed down to brothers who killed a 71-year-old man that asked them to stop using foul language at a Colton bar.

Four years ago, Omar Ramirez, 29, and his brother Jonathan, 32, killed Enrique Bermudez, who had stepped outside to request they not use profanity and argue loudly at the La Veranda Family Restaurant on Colton.

Instead, the brothers attacked Bermudez with their fists and then a barstool, leaving him for dead on the floor of that restaurant.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Rogan said the jury’s decision took just three hours for the killing that occurred on May 13, 2006. The brothers were also found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon for attacking another restaurant patron. Waitresses and two men inside the restaurant tried to intervene on Bermudez’s behalf. One of the men was knocked unconscious.

The Ramirez brothers had been arguing loudly with their stepfather on the night in question when, at around 1 a.m., Bermudez had walked outside to request softer language.

“An older man who was just trying to be polite, kind and take care of others was murdered for his kindness,” Rogan said.

On Monday, the brothers were ordered to return to court on June 15 for sentencing. They face possible 25-years-to-life sentences in state prison on the murder charges alone. Another three to four years is possible for the assault charges.