Las Vegas teacher faces murder charge

The last words Oscar Ramirez said to his wife Monday night were “don’t go outside,” according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

His wife watched from the upstairs window as Ramirez went out to confront his wife’s ex-husband, Dawrin Mota, she told police.

Ramirez was shot in the neck outside their home on the 7900 block of Pinnochio Avenue, and the woman said Mota drove off while she called police.

Mota called Metro at the same time as his ex-wife and reported: “I was attacked. I feared for my life, and I had to defend myself,” according to the arrest report. He said the man he shot ran up to his vehicle with a dog and he couldn’t remember if it was a mutual fight before he opened fire.

Mota’s ex-wife showed detectives texts on Ramirez phone. Mota and the woman shared three children, and one of them texted Ramirez to say Mota wanted money back “or my dad will come over and take it bye himself,” one message read.

The mother texted back “tell ur dad not to threaten us,” according to the arrest report. She told police Mota called moments later, yelling, swearing and he said “I’m going to come over there right now,” detectives wrote in the arrest report.

Ramirez told the woman, who he married in July, that he was tired of Mota “intimidating” them and he was going outside to confront Mota. The woman said Ramirez went out unarmed, and no dogs came with him.

Mota drove off after the shooting and was arrested 15 minutes later about three miles east of the woman’s home. He was not injured, his clothing was not torn and police said there was no fight inside his car.

During an interview on Monday, Mota refused to speak to police and asked for an attorney. He is being held without bail on a murder charge and expected to appear in court again Tuesday.

A spokesman for the College of Southern Nevada said Mota worked for the college from 2017 through March 2021.

He wrote an opinion piece for the Review-Journal in 2021, where he discussed his teaching career and advised meaningful relationships were key to students’ learning.

Mota said he was a math instructional coach at Elizondo Elementary School at the time and was a Teach Plus Nevada senior policy fellow. Public payroll data showed he worked for the Clark County School District from 2011 through 2021, but the school district could not be reached to provide further details.

“I use my experience and capacity to connect with my students, empathize with the challenges they encounter and encourage and empower them to persevere through the daily barriers they face,” he wrote.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.