Crime & Safety
Father Accused of Killing Toddler Indicted on Capital Murder Charge
Joaquin Shadow Rams could face the death penalty if he is convicted.
A grand jury in Prince William County Circuit Court has indicted a Manassas father accused of killing his young son on a capital murder charge, court records show.
The new charge means that if convicted, Joaquin Shadow Rams, 41, could face the death penalty. Rams had already been indicted on first degree murder charges in May and had a jury trial scheduled for August.
15-month-old Prince McLeod Rams died during a court-ordered visitation with his father last October. The Office of the Medical Examiner ruled that the death was caused by drowning, though Joaquin Rams contends that Prince had a seizure.
Rams had taken out several life insurance policies on his son, totaling well over $500,000. Rams filed one policy that falsely claimed that Prince's mother, Hera McLeod, died in an accident. Rams has said that the policies were an investment.
The indictment came down on what would have been Prince's second birthday, as his mother noted in her blog, Cappuccino Queen.
"While I should be celebrating this day with a bubbly, healthy little two-year old, I am forced to mourn the life he should have had," McLeod wrote.
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