Baby found safe after mom slain in Delta; ex arrested

Alert issued as 10-month-old, grandmother taken to Indiana

Crime tape outside of the Fernwood Street home in Delta where Amanda Mangas was fatally shot and her son Winston Ramey, 10 months, was taken. The boy and his grandmother were later found safe with the suspect in Indiana.

The Blade/Amy E. Voigt
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DELTA, Ohio — Amanda Mangas told Toledo police in August she was ready to leave James Ramey.

Ramey, the father of their young child, grew irate inside their Broadway Street home. Ms. Mangas told police he placed a steak knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she called police, an incident report said.

A member of the Delta Police Department leads a dog out of a home in the 900 block of Fernwood after investigating the scene of the shooting of Amanda Mangas, 23.

“The victim stated that the suspect is a violent drunk, and he has hit and threatened her in the past, but she was afraid to follow through until now,” the officer wrote.

Early Tuesday, the threats ended with Ramey kicking in the door of the Delta home where his former girlfriend was living and fatally shooting her in the chest, authorities said.

After shooting Ms. Mangas, 23, at about 5:10 a.m. in the 900 block of Fernwood Avenue, at the home of her father and stepmother, Ramey took the couple’s 10-month-old son, Winston, and Ms. Mangas’ stepmother, Deborah, 52, and fled into Indiana.

AUDIO: Fulton County 911: Delta, Ohio shooting

VIDEOS: Delta Police Chief Nathan Hartsock on the fatal shooting, Amber Alert | Mike Mangas talks about the death of his daughter Amanda

Officials issued an Amber Alert and caught Ramey in Fulton County, Indiana. The child and Ms. Mangas’ stepmother were unharmed.

Authorities charged Ramey, 27, of the 300 block of Fassett Street, Toledo, with aggravated murder.

Ramey is incarcerated at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department in Rochester, Ind., according to a jail staff member. Ramey waived his right to an extradition hearing early today, according to an Indiana court clerk.

Jail staff said they did not know when Ramey would be sent back to Delta.

A court hearing in Ohio’s Fulton County Eastern District Court has not been scheduled as of early today.

A mother’s concern

Delta Police Chief Nathan Hartsock said when police arrived at the Mangas home Amanda was alive. Her first concern was her baby.

“She spoke with the sergeant that arrived on scene and her first thought was her 10-month-old child, which led us to believe that the child was not there,” Chief Hartsock said.

She was transported to the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, where she died, he said.

Amanda Mangus and son Winston Ramey.

Mike Mangas, 58, Amanda’s father, who had left for work just before Ramey arrived at his house, said his daughter was a good mother to 10-month-old Winston. “She made some good, bad decisions, but she did a good job raising her boy,” he said.

A charge of aggravated murder was filed against Ramey in Ohio’s Fulton County Eastern District Court, police said. As for the possibility of additional charges, the chief said, “You can bet on it.”

Protection order

Amanda Mangas had a protection order filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against Ramey. The baby was included in the protection order, police said.

“I knew. I kept telling Deb something like this is going to happen,” Mr. Mangas said. “I just knew that he was that kind of person.”

Ramey was charged March 3 with violating a temporary protection order. He was set for arraignment March 23 in Eastern District Court. Delta police refused to comment or provide an incident report, citing the investigation.

Ramey pleaded no contest in Toledo Municipal Court to aggravated menacing in last year’s domestic dispute. He was sentenced to a suspended 180-day jail term and placed on probation for one year.

Ramey

Chief Hartsock did not know of a motive for the shooting but said the department would review the parents’ social-media outlets and cell-phone usage.

“Other than the fact that Mr. Ramey had a protection order against him, he did make these threats in the past,” Chief Hartsock said.

An Amber Alert was issued about 7:48 a.m. Tuesday that Ramey had the child, as well as the victim’s stepmother. It was unclear if Mrs. Mangas was forced to go with him or if she did so voluntarily for the sake of the child.

Ramey was driving a friend’s black 2006 Chrysler Town & Country van, police said.

Officials think Ramey was headed to Illinois, where his mother lives outside Chicago. The site in which he was apprehended, however, is not on any principal east-west highways linking northwest Ohio with Illinois.

Chief Hartsock said Ramey was found after authorities tracked his cell phone, and he was arrested without incident. The baby and Mrs. Mangas were not harmed.

“I’m glad about that. I’m glad they caught him before I did,” Mr. Mangas said.

Mike Mangas had just left for work when police say James Ramey broke down the door. Mr. Mangas learned from a family member that something was wrong at his house.

Mr. Mangas said he left for work before 5 a.m. and was notified by a family member that something was going on at home. He called his wife and daughter, but the calls went to voicemail, he said.

“I went down to the house,” Mr. Mangas said. “I was sitting at the corner of Van Buren and Fernwood. It was all taped off, and a Fulton County Sheriff deputy said I couldn’t get to the house, that it was a crime scene.”

The deputy told Mr. Mangas to go to the Delta Police Department for additional information, where he learned what had happened.

Mr. Mangas said the baby was active and joked the boy’s name should be changed to “No” since they said, “No, Winston,” so often.

“He’s a very active, very sweet kid,” Mr. Mangas said.

Police cleared away the yellow caution tape in the bitter wind about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Crime Scene Unit cleared the scene, letting Mr. Mangas go home to await the safe arrival of his wife and grandson.

Delta Police Chief Nathan Hartsock said Amanda Mangas was alive when police arrived at the house.

Friend in shock

Amanda Evans of Edison, Ohio, said she was shocked, then filled with questions when she found out the Amber Alert that morning was for her friend’s son.

She had worked with Ms. Mangas about a year ago at a Bob Evans eatery in Marion, Ohio, before Ms. Mangas moved to Toledo. They bonded over late shifts talking about work and Ms. Mangas’ then-pregnancy.

“She’s one of those people you always knew you could count on to put a smile on your face,” she said. “It hurts to know that someone who had such a positive future was the one to go.”

Staff writers Ryan Dunn and Sarah Elms contributed to this report.

Contact Allison Reamer at: areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506, or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.