Crime & Safety

Mystery Deepens in Joaquin Rams Case

Prosecutors called a special grand jury this week involving Joaquin Shadow Rams, who was charged earlier this year in the death of his 15-month-old son.

Prince William County prosecutors have called a special grand jury involving Joaquin Shadow Rams, the Manassas father charged with killing his 15-month-old son, Prince McLeod Rams. 

What is going on inside the courtroom remains a secret, according to a report this week in the Washington Post. Proceedings continued this week, after the grand jury met for three days earlier in the month. As the Post notes, investigations by special grand jurys are rare in Prince William County.

Prosecutors told the Post that they could not discuss the purpose of the special grand jury. Defense attorney Timothy Olmstead and Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert did not respond to requests for comment from Patch.

Police first began to investigate the death in October 2012. Joaquin Rams told police that he put his son in a crib, during a court-ordered visitation. Sometime later, he heard rasping noises from Prince, who had a history of seizures. Court documents claim that household members gave different accounts of the toddler's death. 

An investigation by Manassas City Police also showed that Rams had taken out several life insurance policies on his son. On one policy, it falsely claimed that Prince's mother, Hera McLeod, died in an accident. 

During the course of the investigation into the death of Prince Rams, other incidents from Rams' past became well-publicized. The medical examiner ruled his mother's 2008 death a suicide, although family members question the ruling. In 2003, Shawn Mason, his girlfriend and the mother of Joaquin Rams, Jr., was shot to death in her Manassas apartment. Mason had a life insurance policy, in which her son was the beneficiary. The medical examiner ruled Mason's death a homicide.

Mason's death remains under investigation. On May 2—the same day that the Post published the second article in a four-part series on the death of Prince Rams—Manassas City Detective Darwin Guyton filed an affidavit for a search warrant in Prince William County Circuit Court. 

"Ms. Mason's body was discovered by Joaquin Shadow Rams, her former boyfriend and father of her only child," the affidavit states. "Rams was identified as a suspect in Ms. Mason's death. He remains a person of interest in this case."

As part of the investigation into the death of Prince Rams, the detective had searched a Public Storage unit in Manassas, and seen several video cassettes, along with Mason's personal property. In the affidavit, the detective requested permission to search the storage unit, citing the Post's article. It referenced a blog post where Joaquin Rams wrote that he has 'video footage' that proves his innocence. 

He wrote that he "had a clear and documented alibi with numerous witnesses and video footage as to my whereabouts at the time of her death."


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