Hate crime murder suspect declared mentally incompetent to stand trial

A Thermal man accused of killing a coworker because he was gay was declared mentally incompetent Thursday and will not stand trial on his charges.

Miguel Angel Bautista Ramirez, 31, was accused of fatally shooting Juan Ceballos, 20, of Mecca back in July 2014.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said the two worked together at a pizza hut. It was one of two jobs Ceballos worked at the time.

Following Thursday's ruling at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, a July 24 court date was set when it will be decided which mental hospital Ramirez is transferred to. He remains jailed without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

The shooting happened right outside Ceballos' apartment on the 65-000 block of Dale Kiler Road in Mecca shortly before midnight on July 13, 2014. Deputies found Ceballos with several gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ceballos' family told News Channel 3 in 2014 that he had texted his younger brother to "come" outside as he had brought home dinner. His family says he was shot as he was parked.

A criminal complaint alleges Ramirez waited for Ceballos outside the apartment. Along with murder, he faced hate crime and lying-in-wait allegations.

The criminal complaint filed by prosecutors alleges that Ramirez killed Ceballos "because of a bias against the victim's sexual orientation." A witness said Ramirez often used slurs to refer to Ceballos.

The son of a farm worker and eldest of five children, Ceballos was a student at College of the Desert on a partial scholarship.