Two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that a second suspect has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a string of drug-facilitated robberies of men who visited gay bars in New York City that included two deaths. Robert Demaio, 34, was charged with murder, robbery, grand larceny, identity theft, and conspiracy in connection with the death of John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant, and in a separate incident in which an unidentified victim did not die.
Umberger and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, were both found dead after visiting gay bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood last spring. Both had left the bars with at least one unknown person before their bank accounts were drained of thousands of dollars using facial recognition access on their phones, according to their family members. The medical examiner’s office ruled their deaths as homicides caused by a “drug-facilitated theft,” and multiple drugs were found in their systems, including fentanyl, lidocaine, and cocaine.
The police obtained security video showing Demaio and Jayqwan Hamilton entering and leaving Umberger’s temporary residence in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Through a search warrant, police also recovered two videos from Demaio’s phone that showed Demaio at the site of Umberger’s death. In one of the videos, Umberger appears to be unconscious, lying face up on a bed at his temporary New York City residence.
Last month, the police arrested Jacob Barroso, charging him with murder, robbery, grand larceny, and conspiracy in connection with Ramirez’s death and in a separate incident where the victim survived. On Saturday, Barroso was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on murder and robbery charges. He pleaded not guilty and was not granted bail. Several family members and friends of the defendants crowded into the courtroom Monday afternoon, and outside the courtroom, one of Barroso’s supporters said he was “not a murderer.”
The charges against the suspects demonstrate that prosecutors have the skill, professionalism, and dedication needed to solve these types of challenging cases. Several family members and friends of Ramirez were in the courtroom for the proceeding, and the victim’s mother was seen crying. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell commended the teamwork between the NYPD and city prosecutors to bring forward charges.
This case has raised concerns about the safety of those who frequent New York City’s gay bar scene. The New York City Police Department previously confirmed that there are multiple groups of criminals committing these types of crimes against men visiting the city’s gay bars. Police also said that comparable crimes were being committed against patrons of bars without any LGBTQ affiliation. Last week, the New York City medical examiner’s office confirmed that it is investigating “several additional deaths in similar circumstances” to those of Ramirez and Umberger.