Santa Rosa man could spend rest of his life in prison for killing girlfriend with dumbbell

The Santa Rosa man who was charged with first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend two years ago by striking her head with a dumbbell and then smothering her was sentenced in Sonoma County on Tuesday to nine years plus 25 years to life in state prison.

The district attorney’s office said that Guatemalan national Nery Estrada-Margos, 40, would have to serve at least 34 years in prison before having an opportunity to come before a parole board to ask for his release. In June, he pleaded no contest to charges of murder, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm and domestic assault.

The death of 42-year-old Veronica Cabrera Ramirez, girlfriend of Estrada-Margos, came two weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery in July 2017. Then law enforcement issued a protective order for Cabrera Ramirez, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

In mid-August, the mother of two teenage daughters, was found unresponsive in her home on Russell Avenue and was later pronounced dead.

Estrada-Margos admitted to killing her when he showed up at the Santa Rosa Police station on Aug. 18, 2017 and told officers that he had hit Cabrera Ramirez on the head with a dumbbell before she went to work. Autopsy reports found additional blunt force trauma to Cabrera Ramirez’s head, and the cause of death appeared to be strangulation, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Investigative reports released by attorneys later revealed that Estrada-Margos thought Cabrera Ramirez was cheating on him, which he told police was the reason he assaulted her.

After the couple started dating in 2016, Estrada-?Margos reportedly took over Cabrera Ramirez’s Facebook account, tracked her phone and consistently accused her of cheating.

During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Judge Bradford DeMeo said the crime was brutal, heinous and callous.

Estrada-Margos’ case became national news after it was discovered that a federal agency sent an immigration detainer request to local jail officials asking them to hold ?Estrada-Margos for 48 hours after he was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on domestic battery charges two weeks before he killed Cabrera Ramirez. Estrada-Margos was released on bail, however.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office does not respond to immigration detainer requests, but Sgt. Spencer Crum last year said the Sheriff’s Office did notify Immigration Customs Enforcement of Estrada-Margos’ impending release before he posted bail.

Questions arose whether the Sheriff’s Office gave ICE officials enough time to act on ?Estrada-Margos’ release. The federal immigration department had flagged Estrada-?Margos for entering the U.S. illegally after a 2008 deportation to Guatemala.

DeMeo ended the sentencing hearing by speaking to Cabrera Ramirez’s daughters, and said that their mother would want them to live life fully and that Cabrera Ramirez will be with them moving forward, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CrossingBordas.