Murder During Attempted Poker Game Robbery Deemed Justifiable

According to the Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan fatal shooting which occurred during the poker game in Saginaw Township was justifiable. Death of the 25 year old Ramon C. Vasquez would not result in criminal charges as prosecutor McColgan announced.

According to the police reports, 12 men were playing Texas Hold’em inside the apartment when Vasquez and another robber, who was not identified by police, entered the apartment wearing masks. After entering the apartment uninvited, police said that one of the robbers fired one shot from the handgun.

However, uninvited guests didn’t expect that someone at the apartment would have had a weapon as well and that their robbery plan went completely downhill.

One of the poker players had concealed gun license and just minutes before midnight the guns went off. According to McColgan, poker player returned fire, killing Ramon Vasquez.

25-year-old robber was found lying in the hallway near the entrance of the building and was taken to Covenant Health Care, where he died due to his injuries.

Prosecutor John McColgan explained that his decision came after thorough review of evidence including forensic evidence and witness statements.

Three other men are facing charges with the robbery attempt and the police believes that man, named Jason D. McGowan was the other masked shooter along with Vasquez.

Jesse M. Bobain and Christopher M. Talkington are also facing charges in connection with the robbery attempt. Bobain was shot multiple times when incident occurred on March 11th while Talkington was in the apartment when shooting occurred but was not playing poker, the police believes.

Preliminary examination in the case is scheduled for Monday June 8th.

After fatal shooting occurred during the poker game, Saignaw Township Lt. Rich Herren described township as peaceful place where murders don’t happen very often. Rick explained that home poker games are illegal in Michigan and sometimes such games can lead to incidents, especially when a lot of money is on the tables.

However McColgen revealed that buy-ins for the home poker game in Saginaw Township were minimal.

Murder of Ramon C. Vasquez has been the first case of the murder since 2012 in the township, and the previous murder also occurred during the home poker game as Herren explained. 36-year-old Michael Kuhlman was killed back in 2012 at his home while he hosting a poker game.

Quintel A. West was trying to rob poker game participants at Michael’s home who gathered near Hemmeter in Saginaw Township. After Quintel shot and killed Michael, he was charged with first degree felony murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.