A 29-year-old man known on the street as “O-Dog” is facing a second-degree murder charge after Phoenix police say surveillance footage, license plate records and his own mother’s 911 call led them to his door nearly two weeks after a woman was fatally stabbed behind a South Phoenix bus stop. Oscar Ramirez Jr. was taken into custody on Wednesday, and a judge has since set his cash-only bond at $500,000.
The victim, 41-year-old Cynthia Saenz, was found unresponsive near 35th Avenue and Roeser Road on the morning of October 17, according to azfamily.com. The investigation began after a passerby called 911 to report an injured, unresponsive woman behind a city bus stop. Firefighters arrived, but Saenz had died at the scene.
A separate early report on the case, published by azfamily.com in the days after Saenz’s body was discovered, described the case as being investigated as a homicide in the Laveen area. ABC15 reported that officers were called to the area of 5300 South 35th Avenue at around 7:15 a.m. that day, and KTAR reported that preliminary information suggested Saenz sustained a stab wound to the abdomen.
Surveillance Cameras Captured the Attack
Home security footage showed Saenz standing behind the bus stop around 7:03 a.m. the morning she died, the station’s report states. A silver or gray SUV pulled up on Grove Street just south of the stop, and two people got out. One, dressed in dark clothing, ran toward Saenz and appeared to attack her before both fled west in the SUV. A witness separately reported hearing a scream and seeing two thin men run across a nearby field.
Detectives identified the getaway vehicle as a 2010-13 Range Rover Sport with several distinct aftermarket features, per the same account. Using automated license plate readers and prior police contact records, investigators linked the SUV to Ramirez, who had been stopped while driving it in March and had taken it to a Land Rover dealership for service in June. Police records also showed Ramirez used the alias “O-Dog.”
A Mother’s 911 Call and Hours Spent Washing a Range Rover
About six hours after the stabbing, Ramirez’s mother called 911 to report that her son was acting erratically and was outside their home spending hours spraying down and washing his Range Rover. Per dispatchers, she said Ramirez claimed he had “walked up to a person and was trying to ‘heal’ them.” Neighborhood surveillance footage corroborated that Ramirez spent hours washing the SUV that day while wearing all-black clothing matching the attacker seen on camera.
Detectives said searches of the Range Rover and Ramirez’s home turned up his missing Arizona license plate hidden in the glove box, probation paperwork dated the day after the murder, and black clothing matching the suspect’s description. An associate of Saenz told police that a man named “O-Dog” had repeatedly confronted and robbed her on the street and had previously threatened her with a pocketknife and brass knuckles.
Suspect Tracked to a Gilbert Rehab Facility
Records showed Ramirez checked into a rehabilitation facility in Gilbert the day after the stabbing before transferring to a home near 27th Avenue and Baseline Road in south Phoenix, where detectives ultimately arrested him. According to court documents cited in the report, Ramirez initially claimed the Range Rover was not his and denied knowing anything about the killing before later admitting he owned the SUV. He reportedly told investigators he had been drinking heavily and could not remember where he was that morning.
Ramirez is now facing one count of second-degree murder along with multiple probation violations. The evidence reviewed does not indicate whether Ramirez has entered a plea or retained an attorney, and the identity of the second person seen fleeing the scene in the Range Rover remains unaddressed in the record so far.
