Suspects charged in 2019 Perkins overdose death appear in court
Feb. 26—The two suspects charged in the overdose death of Jamie Bear in 2019 were bound over for trial court arraignment Thursday.
James Josiah Ramos and Noah Reimer Montague appeared before Judge Katherine Thomas for a preliminary hearing.
Ramos was charged with second-degree murder or the alternative of manslaughter in the second degree.
Montague was charged with felony murder.
Ramos was the boyfriend of Bear and Montague is the alleged drug dealer who sold Ramos and Bear drugs Sept. 9, 2019.
At the start of court, Chad Greer, Ramos' attorney, told the court that Ramos would be waiving his right to a preliminary hearing and he was bound over for trial court arraignment March 12.
The state was represented by Kenneth Towery with the Attorney General's Office and Montague is being represented by Zach Smith.
Towery called the first witness, Perkins Chief of Police Robert Ernst.
Ernst testified that he and two other officers responded to the residence in the 100 block of West Freeman Avenue for a welfare check.
Ernst said when he arrived on scene, he knocked several times and announced their presence. He told the court there was no answer and due to the nature of the call he entered the residence, since the door was unlocked.
He told the court the backdoor was open, and upstairs in one of the bedrooms was the body of a deceased woman covered in a blanket.
Ernst said he went back to his office to write up a search warrant and also contacted the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for assistance.
Smith cross-examined Ernst and asked him repeatedly about the 911 call.
The call was made to the non-emergency number and the dispatcher immediately contacted Ernst about the call.
Smith also asked the chief multiple times about entering the residence and asked why a search warrant was needed.
Towery called Ramos as the next witness to take the stand.
Ramos told the court he had recently been released from jail shortly before the overdose occurred.
He insinuated both he and Bear were sober, but he didn't know for sure if Bear was sober due to him being in jail for a little over two months.
Sept. 9, 2019
Towery had Ramos tell the court what had transpired the day he and Bear allegedly bought heroin from Montague.
They left Perkins and went to court in Tulsa, ran some errands and then he said they both decided to buy heroin.
The alleged transaction between Ramos and Montague took place at QuickTrip in the area of West 51st Street and Union Avenue.
The two met at the gas pumps, and Montague got into the front seat of the car Ramos was driving. The exchange was brief and Ramos bought half a gram of Heroin for $50.
Ramos told the court that he and Bear drove to a nearby pharmacy and used part of the heroin before running errands and heading back to Perkins.
Ramos said he and Bear used another portion of the drugs that same evening.
He described the feeling as "intense" due to him and Bear being sober for a prolonged time.
Sept. 10, 2019
Ramos told the court he woke up and nudged Bear. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, before going back to attempt to get Bear out of bed.
Ramos described Bear as "her presence is not there" but her body was warm.
He said he started shaking her, but she didn't seem to have a pulse.
Ramos said he then called a friend who advised him to pack a bag and leave the residence. That friend is the one who called the non-emergency number to have someone check on Bear.
Ramos told the court he circled back to the residence and eventually spoke with law enforcement on scene.
Ramos was cross examined by the defense, who brought up his prior felony convictions.
The defense also went over the day of Sept. 10 and asked Ramos why he didn't call 911.
The last witness called was Andy Dawson with the Tulsa Police Department.
He was contacted by an OSBI agent and briefed on the case.
Dawson was working narcotics at the time of the investigation and ended up interviewing Montague.
He alleged that Montague had said he sold heroin to at least 10 people, and that Montague knew the dangers associated with this drug, and had multiple friends overdose from heroin.
Dawson said he observed text message exchanges between Ramos, Bear and Montague. The phone used was Bear's, but she and Ramos both used it to text Montague.
Towery admitted two exhibits to the court, the positive identification of heroin that was found in the back of Bear's phone and the Medical Examiner's report.
Bear's cause of death was listed as "acute heroin toxicity."
The state asked for the judge to bind Montague over for trial court arraignment.
The defense argued his client delivered the drugs and that was it. He alleged the victim could have been alive, but Ramos didn't call 911.
Smith also said the ME report showed there was codeine in Bear's system, and that she also could have gotten up and done more drugs without Ramos knowing.
Towery made an argument again stating that there were no additional drugs found at the residence and that Ramos described Bear as healthy and sober.
Smith also argued that the manner of death listed on the ME report said "accident" not "homicide"
Judge Thomas said she understands the arguments of the defense, but the job of this court is to determine proabable cause that a crime was committed, and the court did find that a crime was committed.
Montague will appear in court March 16.
