WARNING: Distressing content.
A heartbreaking story has emerged as a 23-year-old mother who was killed by her ex-partner sparked a search for her baby son with her last words.
Mandi Mangas was found inside her ex-partner’s home, suffering a gunshot wound to the chest.
WTOL reports that when police arrived, her first and last words were “Where’s Winston?” which caused police to search for her baby son, who was no longer in the house.
Police managed to find the father of her child, James Ramey, who was over 200km from the crime scene in Delta, Ohio.
“There were several calls that came in [from] people who had contact with Mr. Ramey, so we were able to track him,” said Delta Police Chief Nathan Hartsock. “With the size of the community, we did have multiple officers, here my department, working. But if it wasn’t for assisting agencies, this would have been much slower process.”
The baby and Mandi Mangas’ stepmother, Debra Mangas, had been taken against their will, and were found by the police, unharmed.
Mandi Mangas’ father Mike Mangas said he’s proud that her last thoughts and worries were with her son. He is relieved that his wife and grandson were found unharmed, though grieving for his daughter.
Ramey has already been charged with aggravated murder, but police say he will face additional charges. He was charged with aggravated menacing in 2016, as Mangas then believed that Ramey was going to cause physical harm to her. She said that he had threatened to kill her in her sleep with a knife, according to court documents.
Ramey is currently being held at Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, where he will await his arraignment.
