The three men accused of a string of 2022 Manhattan robberies in which two male victims were fatally drugged were convicted Monday on all criminal counts.
Robert DeMaio, Jacob Barroso, and Jayqwan Hamilton were convicted of murder, burglary, robbery, conspiracy, and more for drugging five men over the course of 2022. It took the jury a little more than a day to come back with the guilty verdict; they had begun deliberations Friday before breaking for the weekend.
According to court documents, the suspects chatted up members of the LGBTQ+ community and drug them at Manhattan bars using a cocktail of fentanyl. After the druggings, the trio would make off with valuables like cash, credit cards, and cell phones.
The conspiracy scheme turned deadly on April 21, 2022, when Julio Ramirez was approached outside of the Ritz bar at 369 West 46th St. by the three men before bundling into a taxi together. By the end of that ride, Ramirez had died from a drug overdose. According to police, the perpetrators took Ramirez’s phone and transferred money to different bank accounts to make purchases, including a pair of sneakers.
John Umberger, the second victim, was found dead inside of his Upper East Side apartment on May 26. Detectives would discover fraudulent charges on the victim’s credit cards and in the bank accounts, including thousands of dollars of unauthorized Cash App transfers—connections were made when authorities found that this was a similar pattern to Ramirez’s death.
The medical examiner’s office deemed both cases as homicides. Police were able to catch up with the men after catching them in surveillance video entering Umberger’s residence.
“Jayqwan Hamilton, Robert Demaio and Jacob Barroso took advantage of people who were just trying to enjoy Manhattan’s vibrant nightlife. These defendants were motivated by greed, and their callous behavior left two young men dead. I know the families who lost their loved ones are still suffering from so much pain, and I hope this verdict can provide at least some measure of comfort,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal also commented on the convictions, thanking DA Bragg and stating that his heart goes out to the victims’ family members. He also bemoaned Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoing a bill he helped introduce that would put more security measures on payment apps.
“In response to this crime, I worked with District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Assembly Member Grace Lee to write and pass legislation, the Financial Payment Security Act, which would have brought peer-to-peer payment apps, like Zelle and Venmo, in line with traditional banks by requiring them to add simple security regulations, such as PIN numbers. Regrettably, our bill was vetoed last session; however, we plan to once again advocate for its passage and signature this year because we believe that the corporations that own and operate these apps have a responsibility to limit fraud on their platforms,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “The lack of security on peer-to-peer payment apps makes it easier for bad actors to exploit the users of their apps, which as we know from this tragic case, can have dire consequences. In honor of the memory of Julio and John, we hope to pass the Financial Payment Security App to help make these applications safer and prevent future tragedies like this one from ever occurring again.”
The three convicted suspects are expected to be sentenced on April 4.
