Hialeah dentist dies month after shooting outside office

Suspects in shooting remain in jail without bond

A Hialeah dentist arrives at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center after she was shot outside her office. (WPLG)

HIALEAH, Fla. – A Hialeah dentist who was shot outside her office in November has died.

Carmen Ramirez succumbed to her gunshot wounds, Hialeah police Sgt. Ibel Perez confirmed Thursday.

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According to a Hialeah police report, Ralph Benjamin shot Ramirez multiple times on the stairwell leading to her dental office on East 41st Street.

Police said surveillance video revealed that Hector Ledesma was the getaway driver.

An investigation determined that Ledesma is the brother of Jose Ledesma, who is facing three to five years in prison if convicted of identity theft. The victim in that 2015 case was Ramirez, who was set to testify in his trial.

Police said Ledesma defrauded Ramirez out of more than $40,000.

Investigators determined that Benjamin and Ledesma purchased one-way tickets to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Ramirez lives, the day after the shooting.

Both men were arrested as they prepared to board a plane at Miami International Airport.

Police say Ralph Benjamin (left) shot Carmen Ramirez multiple times outside her Hialeah dental office. An investigation revealed that Hector Ledesma (right) was the getaway driver. Ramirez is the star witness in the upcoming trial for Ledesma's brother. (WPLG)

Police said Ledesma confessed to driving Benjamin to the location where the shooting took place.

Benjamin and Ledesma have been in jail without bond since their arrests. Both men have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office, said upgraded charges will likely be presented to a grand jury.


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