A teenager charged in the shooting deaths of two men at an east Bakersfield marijuana dispensary has admitted to all charges and enhancements against him in juvenile court, with a hearing that will effectively determine his sentence set for Nov. 19. Ramahs Turner was 17 years old when the May 27, 2025, shooting unfolded in the 1600 block of Flower Street, leaving 26-year-old Damien Joseph Bullard and 37-year-old Anthony Victor Ochoa dead.
According to the Kern County District Attorney's Office, Turner admitted to all counts during a hearing last week. He is now scheduled for what's described as a disposition hearing — in effect a sentencing hearing in juvenile court — on Nov. 19. The court previously determined Turner didn't meet the requirements necessary to be transferred to adult court, meaning the longest he can be held in custody is until his 25th birthday.
Five Defendants, Five Different Paths Through Court
Turner was one of five people charged in connection with the shooting deaths at the dispensary. His co-defendant, Traedyn Brookins, was also 17 at the time of the killings and has his own juvenile court hearing scheduled for Dec. 17, according to the same report. The cases against the other defendants remain pending.
Two adult defendants, Terrance Thompson, 19, and Darwin Young Jr., 21, are charged with murder and robbery and face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged, the outlet's reporting states. A fifth defendant, Nancy Ruiz, was charged only with robbery. An earlier report from the same station had noted that prosecutors waived the death penalty against the two men facing murder charges.
How Investigators Pieced Together the Case
Earlier reporting on the shooting offered a glimpse into how investigators built the case against the five defendants. Per KMPH, four people went inside the dispensary before Ochoa and Bullard followed, and a verbal argument broke out inside before several gunshots were fired. Deputies were called to the scene at around 9:40 p.m. that night, as reported by BakersfieldNow.
The latest reporting on Turner's admission does not revisit every detail of the original investigation, but the cases against Brookins, Thompson, Young and Ruiz remain active as the courts work through each defendant separately. For Turner, the Nov. 19 disposition hearing stands as the next concrete step in a case that began with a verbal argument and ended in two deaths on Flower Street.
