Arrest made in Culmore murder

Gavidia

Fairfax County Police have made an arrest in the homicide of Filaberto Filipe Paz Ramirez, whose body was found in the Culmore area Sept. 1.

Police arrested Jose Antonio Gavidia, 24, Oct. 8 and charged him with murder, according to an Oct. 29 announcement from the Mason Police District. He is in police custody in the Adult Detention Center.

The announcement was delayed because the police believe other people might be involved and the case is still being investigated, said officer Roger Henriquez. Gavidia and Ramirez knew one another and had been involved in some sort of argument, he said. Gavidia is listed as having “no fixed address” but has been staying with people in Culmore.

“There is nothing to believe that the case is gang related,” Henriquez said. It also doesn’t appear that robbery was a motive.

Henriquez said a firearm was not used but wouldn’t say what other weapon might have been used. A previous police report said there was blunt trauma to the upper body.

According to an article in the Washington Post, Gavidia was a member of the MS-13 gang and a witness had seen Gavidia beat up and stab Ramirez. The article said another witness led police to an abandoned house on Charles Street where they found items with blood on them. 

About 200 people came to a candlelight vigil Sept. 5 to remember Ramirez, 26, who had only been in the United States for about seven months and had a wife and child in Guatemala. He worked as a day laborer and volunteered at the Culmore food distribution program.