‘Violence didn’t come from Joe’: Parents remember son killed in school fight

BELTON, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - A Texas mother continues to heal after losing her son in a deadly high school fight.

Amanda Rios told KWTX she had no idea her 18-year-old son Jose Luis “Joe” Ramirez Jr. agreed to fight another student in the wake of an incident at prom.

“We never even knew this was a problem. Nobody talked to us. My boys didn’t tell me anything about what happened at prom,” Ramirez Jr.’s father, Jose Luis Ramirez Sr., said.

The 18-year-old’s mother and father also said they never heard of their son’s alleged killer, Caysen Tyler Allison, until after the incident.

“The first thing I saw was his eyes. He has evil in him,” Ramirez Jr. said. “He was scared to fight my son. That’s why he pulled that knife out.”

The Belton Police Department reports Ramirez Jr. was fatally stabbed by Allison inside a restroom at Belton High School on May 3.

The family said they believe their son was ambushed and murdered over a lie.

“The world is just getting uglier. People don’t just solve things and move on; they go to this extent for just the stupidest reasons, over a girl,” Rios said.

The family also said they wanted to dispel rumors that Ramirez Jr. was in a gang and threatened Allison.

“Violence didn’t come from Joe. He’d fight you if you wanted to challenge him. He would man up, but he was never a bully,” Rios said.

The devastated mother said she was denied access to her son when she arrived at Belton High School the day of the fight and never got a chance to see him until he died at the hospital.

“That is eating me alive. I just wonder, did he long for me? Did I cross his mind?” she said.

Rios said mementos and photos keep her son’s memory alive but that she is no longer scared of death and looking forward to being reunited with her son.

“God is good, and my baby’s OK,” she said.

Funeral services for Ramirez Jr. are scheduled for Thursday at Crossroads Church. His body will be cremated after the service, according to the family.

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