A gym in California on the 1st of December, 2008, was the scene of survival. As customers were preparing to work out, a boy came crashing through the front doors. He was wearing a pair of grey boxers and a chain around his ankle. He was extremely emaciated and covered in caked in blood and dirt.
“Please hide me” he exclaimed. The boy was 16-year-old
Kyle Ramirez. Standing at 5 foot 8 inches, he weighed just 100 pounds.
When Kyle was 8-years-old, he was abandoned by his biological mother and left in the care of a family friend, Caren Ramirez. A handwritten note from his biological mother granted custody to Ramirez and CPS agreed without even conducting a legally required investigation. Over the forthcoming years, CPS received numerous reports of abuse and neglect. Kyle was emaciated and showed up to school with no food and riddled in bruises and patches of hair missing.
In 2005, Kyle’s brother was placed into protective custody. His brother told CPS that Kyle was being being abused too but he wouldn’t be removed from the household until 2007. A couple of months later, Caren coerced Kyle into escaping from protective custody and return to her to which he complied. This is where the abuse escalated tremendously. For the next 18 months, Carmen and three of her friends, Anthony Waiters, Michael Schumacher and Kelly Lau, unleashed a torrent of abuse on the young teenager. He was struck with belts, a hammer and a baseball bat. He was sliced and stabbed with knives and bleach was then poured into the wounds. He slept with a chain and was burnt with a metal bat that had been held over fire until red hot. Even though he had vanished from protective custody, CPS never bothered to report him missing.
Kyle often heard his abusers speaking about killing him and chopping him up. He knew he had to escape. On the morning of the escape, he coerced the two-year-old son of Michel to reach him the key to unlock the chain around his leg. When he unlocked it, he dashed to the back garden and jumped over the fence with help from the trampoline.
Carmen, Kelly, and Michael took plea bargains and were sentenced to 30 years while Anthony pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.