Durham man given two concurrent life sentences for murdering baby daughter, her mother
By WRAL Staff
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DURHAM (WRAL) — A Durham man was given two concurrent life sentences Tuesday for the murder of his baby daughter and her mother.
Ramir Reams, 27, pleaded guilty as charged on Tuesday afternoon to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 20-year-old Zhytila “Honey” Wilkins and 10-month-old Ruia Reams in January of 2019.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for each murder, ordered to run concurrently.
The murders On the day of the murders, Wilkins and her daughter were at their home alone. Wilkins called 911 just before 10 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2019, and reported she had been shot. A gunshot was heard on the call before it disconnected.
When dispatchers called back, a man later identified as Reams answered the phone and told dispatchers everyone was fine – though Wilkins could be heard crying.
Officers were dispatched to a shooting call at 3619 Suffolk Street on the morning of Jan. 11, 2019. They found the mother and daughter dead inside. They also found Reams with serious injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the mouth.
Wilkins and Reams had been in a romantic relationship for about five years and had recently broken up, according to the prosecuting attorney. At the scene, police located Wilkins’ cell phone, which contained hundreds of recent text messages from Wilkins, including threats and a photo sent by Reams of the handgun found in the home.
The 911 calls Officers were dispatched to a shooting call at 3619 Suffolk Street on the morning of Jan. 11, 2019. They found the mother and daughter dead inside. They also found Reams with serious injuries.
“I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot! Please help me, please,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher from the home before the call was cut off.
When the 911 communications center called the home back, a man answered.
“Oh, everything is OK,” he told the dispatcher as someone screamed in the background. “Everything is OK.”
After the dispatcher is able to get the address of the home, the man apparently hangs up.
Police Chief C.J. Davis called the case “a disturbing domestic murder/attempted suicide” in a statement.
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