Murder trial ordered for suspect in slaying of Sacramento Officer Tara O’Sullivan

The day before Sacramento police Officer Tara O’Sullivan was called to help Megan Jansa move out of the home she shared with Adel Sambrano Ramos, there was little doubt that their relationship had deteriorated to a dangerous stage.

While Jansa was driving on the freeway with her boyfriend, Ramos, in the passenger seat, the two began arguing, Sacramento police Detective Chad Coughran testified Wednesday.

“Megan made a comment something to the effect that I could just crash the car and end it right now,” Coughran said.

“Let’s end it right now,” Ramos replied, then grabbed the steering wheel and tried to crash the car, Coughran said.

Later that night, June 18, 2019, Ramos’ behavior deteriorated as he faced the prospect of Jansa leaving him, Coughran said.

“Megan said that Adel went into the backyard and returned with a shovel and slammed it onto a kitchen table,” Coughran said. “Adel said, ‘It’s to bury you after I kill you.’”

Then, Ramos retrieved a handgun from under his pillow, put it in his waistband and went back outside to retrieve an ax, and then a homemade pipe bomb, Coughran said. He threatened to kill her, Coughran said, and told her that if she summoned anyone to the house for help “that lead would fly.”

This is just a portion of the events that led Jansa to call police June 19, 2019, for help in getting her belongings out of the house on Redwood Avenue in North Sacramento’s Noralto neighborhood, Coughran said.

This, Coughran said, is what led to O’Sullivan, a 26-year-old rookie officer one week away from graduating from training, being gunned down in the backyard of the home by a high-powered rifle fired from inside the home.

On Monday, after less than three hours of testimony from Coughran, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie ordered Ramos to stand trial for the murder of O’Sullivan and the attempted murder of seven other law enforcement officers who braved a hail of more than 150 bullets trying to rescue O’Sullivan after she was mortally wounded.

The judge’s order came after testimony from only one witness — Coughran — under questioning from Deputy District Attorney Jeff Hightower, who is seeking the death penalty for Ramos.

Ramos defense attorneys Pete Kmeto and Jan Karowsky asked no questions of Coughran and presented no evidence in defense of their client, who entered not guilty pleas at the close of Wednesday’s preliminary hearing.

Ramos, sitting at the defense table in an orange Sacramento County Main Jail jumpsuit, showed no emotion during the session, but appeared to gaze back toward the courtroom gallery where O’Sullivan’s parents and Police Chief Daniel Hahn were seated among about 20 other observers wearing face coverings and spaced out because of COVID-19 precautions.

Ramos was ordered to return to court for a July 23 hearing that both the defense and prosecution concede is simply a “placeholder date” before trial actually begins down the road.

But Coughran’s testimony about interviews he did with officers at the scene of the eight-hour siege and his review of reports filed in the aftermath make it clear that much of the evidence that will be seen at trial will come from videos recorded by Ramos’ 15 surveillance cameras and officers’ body-worn cameras, including O’Sullivan’s.

O’Sullivan was ambushed as she and her training officer, Daniel Chipp, knocked on a door at the residence as Chipp called out that they were not there to arrest Ramos, that they were simply trying to handle a routine call to get Jansa’s belongings out.

O’Sullivan was shot at 6:09 that evening, and other officers scrambled for safety as repeated volleys of gunfire from assault rifles poured from inside the house, Coughran said.

He recounted how each officer later told him they were certain they were going to die that night, and how police mounted a rescue operation with an armored “Bear Cat” SUV to get O’Sullivan to medical treatment.

The Bear Cat, which came under heavy fire as it made its way into the backyard toward O’Sullivan, reached her at 6:49 p.m., Coughran said.

By then, however, she likely had already been dead for some time, he said.

A review of her body-worn camera video, which showed footage pointing straight to the sky after she fell from being shot, recorded her final breath at 6:22 p.m., Coughran said.

The camera recorded other audio, as well, he said, including shots being fired near her body and a man’s voice coming from off camera.

“Are you dead yet, b----?” the voice said, according to Coughran’s testimony.

Two minutes later, the audio picked up a man saying, “Breathe, m-----------, breathe,” Coughran said, followed by, “You’re dead, b----. Whose next, m-----------, bring it on. You never got invited to this place, anyway.”