PORTSMOUTH — The victim of a “horrific” murder late Tuesday night at Bayview Estates had an active no-contact order against the suspect, Raymond E. Ramsey, Portsmouth Police Chief Thomas Lee said Wednesday morning.
Update: In a prepared statement issued late Wednesday afternoon, The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence identified the victim as 42-year-old Yolanda McArdle.
Wednesday Mr. Ramsey, 50, was arrested on a charge of domestic assault, his third offense, at the same apartment at 100 Almeida Terrace in June, Chief Lee said at a press conference at Town Hall. “We’ve been there a few times,” said Chief Lee.
Mr. Ramsey was apparently out on bail at the time of the homicide, he said.
“Unfortunately it’s another tragic case of domestic violence,” said Chief Lee. “We don’t know all the facts on how he was back at that scene.”
The chief said rookie Officer Kyle Hurley responded to Apt. 311 at the complex at about 10:38 p.m. Tuesday to investigate a noise complaint.
Police had arrested the suspect, Raymond Ramsey, for a third-degree domestic assault back in June at the same apartment at Bayview Estates. Photo by Richard W. Dionne Jr.
When Officer Hurley arrived, he found the woman dead and Mr. Ramsey still in the room. A large knife lay nearby, he said.
“The officer ordered him to the ground at gunpoint,” said Chief Lee, who added, “The victim was stabbed multiple times. It really was a horrific scene.”
Police withheld the name of the victim Wednesday morning, pending notification of her family. Chief Lee said it was the victim’s apartment, and that Mr. Ramsey lived with her “off and on,” although he could not say for how long.
“Just going off the information I have, it was a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship but I don’t have all that information right now,” he said, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
Mr. Ramsey is currently at Rhode Island Hospital due to “non-life-threatening” injuries he sustained during the incident, Chief Lee said. “There appeared to be cut injuries on him as well,” he said.
While Chief Lee wouldn’t comment on the extent of the suspect’s injuries or how he sustained them, he confirmed they were not inflicted during any struggle with police.
Mr. Ramsey will be arraigned later Wednesday on charges of domestic murder and violating a no-contact order.
The case mains under investigation by the Portsmouth Police Department and the R.I. Attorney General’s Office.
Praise for officer
The police chief praised the actions of Officer Hurley, who he said is in his “early 20s” and just graduated from the Police Academy in May.
“He was by himself,” Chief Lee said. “He basically walked into (this situation) and took control.”
The last homicide in town was in February 2013, when a Portsmouth woman, Terry L. Chiodo, was stabbed to death on a RIPTA bus on West Main Road, allegedly by her ex-husband, Christopher R. James.
Eleven years before that, in 2002, the manager of the Founder’s Brook Motel and Suites was killed in a murder-for-hire plot.
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