Norma Ramos Elizalde (right) is shown with her sister Irma Ramos who affectionately called her much shorter twin sister “Turtle.” Norma, Irma’s twin, was killed in March 2014 by a stray bullet fired during a gang confrontation.

Norma Elizalde: Twin fondly remembers
sister killed by a stray bullet

August 12, 2015
Santa Paula News

Norma Ramos Elizalde had a good sense of humor, loved her sons, was sweet natured, hardworking and doing the family laundry on a quiet afternoon when she was struck down by a stray bullet allegedly fired by a gang member outside her High Street family compound.

Now, her alleged killer is awaiting a decision on whether or not he will face the death penalty while a second suspect, a member of a rival gang, will face a sentence of life in prison for his alleged role in the senseless killing of the pretty woman known affectionately as “Turtle”.

Norma was only 39 when she was struck once in the neck by a stray bullet fired near the intersection of High Street and Ojai Road where members of a rival gang had started arguing on March 29, 2014.

Mark James Martinez, 32, and Valente Tobias, 23, are facing murder charges related to the shooting as well as felony charges of shooting at an inhabited dwelling and special allegations of street terrorism. 

Ernesto Marron, 21, who was walking with Tobias when they allegedly were confronted by Martinez, pleaded guilty in March to a felony count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling with a special allegation that he acted in the furtherance of a gang. He could be sentenced up to 12 years in prison.

Martinez is also facing special allegations that he personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death and that he killed someone while participating in a street gang.

Prosecutors could decide to seek the death penalty for Martinez, while Tobias is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The shooting itself was a death sentence for Norma, and her family has been sentenced to a lifetime of grief and wondering how things could have been different.

“It’s been very difficult for us,” said Norma’s twin sister Irma Ramos, who lives in the family compound created by their parents.

“We just lost Mom a year before,” Norma’s shocking death. 

Norma’s then 13-year-old son told his uncle, Elizalde’s brother, who was mowing the lawn when the shots were fired, that his mother had been struck by gunfire.

The family compound holds several small houses behind a chain-link fence with a gate in front, the yard dotted with flower bushes and shrubbery.

It is believed that Norma’s death by a stray bullet was the first time an innocent bystander had been killed in Santa Paula.

Irma said she’s been “Praying a lot, I know God will do justice and we’re glad they’re off the streets..”

Norma’s husband and sons as well as other family members are “coping, we all kept each other semi-sane,” through the ordeal, which “feels like it happened yesterday. It’s traumatic; it changes everybody’s lives. I have fear now...I was raised in this neighborhood, our parents always protected us, we thank them for how they raised us but there is no way to know that somebody’s else’s actions, someone you never met, will hurt you.”

An incident July 18 where a group of people leaving a party bus were fired on and five men were shot happened in the family’s neighborhood.

“I heard it,” said Irma of the shots fired, people screaming and sirens from arriving emergency vehicles. “And it was like I had post traumatic stress syndrome,” so strong was her reaction.

“I gave Norma CPR before the ambulance came,” but Irma said her sister, “passed away...I saw it in her eyes.”

In a flash Irma lost her sister, her twin, her father lost his daughter, other siblings lost their sister, Norma’s husband was widowed and her two sons lost their mother...in a flash. 

Ironically, Martinez, the man accused of being the triggerman that fired the shot that killed Norma is also a twin.

The family, said Irma, knows justice will be served for Norma, remembered as “always smiling, always laughing...her nickname was ‘Turtle’ ” used by family and friends, perhaps due to her petite stature next to Irma who was four-and-a-half inches taller than her twin.

Norma, remembered Irma, was “Very simple, not materialistic, very supportive of us when times were rough. Right before she passed away I posted a photo on Facebook,” showing the twins with their brother Nick between them.

Irma wrote on the post:  “My sister and I are so different yet each other’s half.”

It had been that way all their lives, born together, playing together, shared the same passion and love for family, which had taught them to be humble.

Norma grew to love books: “She was an avid reader, addicted to books. She was also dedicated to her family,” at home—“She loved her husband and sons so much!”—and at the Ventura optometrist practice where she worked for Drs. Bozek and Hiroshima.

“Norma loved her patients,” and went out of her way to make sure they were comfortable.

“She had the biggest heart,” but Irma said her twin preferred personal contact and shunned social media.

But that did not mean Norma wasn’t social: “One of our little missions I remember was when she wanted to go out with some friends,” but her parents said no.

That did not deter Turtle who carried out an elaborate escape utilizing the basement.

“I remember the whole night I worried although she and her friend who was spending the night weren’t gone that long...Norma was shy but more outgoing than I was, I was the more cautious one.”

Another adventure of Norma’s was taking a trip to Tijuana although she told her parents she was going camping with other high school graduates.

“Mom found out afterwards when she came home with ceramic piggy banks...Grandmamma and Mom were curious, kept asking where did you buy these? We couldn’t stop laughing...”

As close as the sisters were their mother did ask that they be separated in elementary school: “Norma was a good student but she was very shy...when we started school we weren’t speaking English and our mother asked that we be separated because Norma wanted me to speak for her and make requests,” in the classroom.

Said Irma, “I always stood up for Norma, my little turtle...”

There was a Mass for Norma on the one-year anniversary of her death. 

The family, said Irma, “Believes in justice but we also pray to move on...”





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