Man suspected in killing of Tucson police recruit has criminal record

Just before 6 a.m. on Aug. 19, Carlos Ramirez, 23, was found shot dead inside his home in a residential neighborhood near West Valencia Road and South Camino Verde. His fiancée, a 23-year-old corrections officer, was shot and wounded in the incident, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has said. No possible motive for the shooting has been provided.

Ramirez, a former corrections officer, was days away from completing the academy to join the Tucson Police Department. The couple's child was inside the home at the time of the shooting.

On Thursday night, the Sheriff's Department announced Alex James Barnett, 33, is a suspect in the killing and issued a warrant for his arrest. As of Friday, Barnett was still at large.

The department issued a public safety warning to the public Thursday night, noting Barnett is considered armed and dangerous. He is described as bald with distinctive arm tattoos. He was last seen wearing a red shirt and black leather vest while riding a maroon 2020 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Arizona plate DA466, the department said.

In May of 2011, during a traffic stop, Tucson police officers found a stolen gun next to Barnett, who was in the passenger seat of the stopped car, an interim complaint filed in court says.

Barnett, who was 18 at the time, denied any knowledge of the gun, it said. 

When looking through his phone, officers found several photos of Barnett's then 18-month-old son holding guns, including a handgun and a rifle, court records say. In one of the photos, his son was holding a handgun in one hand and a loaded magazine in the other.

Other photos appear to show the child playing with the handgun, including putting his fingers inside the muzzle, the complaint says.

When asked about the photos, Barnett initially said the child in the photos wasn't his, and the photos had been sent to him, although he later acknowledged it was his child, records show. Several other photos on his phone showed Barnett and the child together.

Officers also found a bag of empty syringes and baggies with methamphetamine under the front passenger seat. About six months earlier, Barnett had been arrested for possession of methamphetamine for sale, a felony. He pleaded guilty and was given three years' probation.

Barnett pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, non-death or serious physical injury, and one count of theft by controlling lost, mislaid or misdelivered property, court documents say.

On Sept. 22, 2011, Barnett was sentenced to a three-year probation term for the two felonies. The probation would run concurrent with his probation for the earlier case.

Then, on Feb. 3, 2020, Pima County sheriff's deputies found several stolen vehicles on Barnett's property, an interim complaint says. Deputies located and arrested Barnett in a shed on the property.

On March 4, 2021, Barnett faced sentencing for theft of means of transportation along with a myriad of other charges from three other criminal cases for incidents throughout 2019 and 2020 to which he pleaded guilty.

For the Feb. 3, 2020, incident and the other charges, which included burglary in the first- and third-degree, prohibited possession of a firearm and aggravated taking the identity of another, he was given concurrent prison sentences ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 years. He was also sentenced to a seven-year probation term for fraudulent schemes and artifices upon his release from prison.

Court documents in another criminal case show Barnett's wife told police he had pulled her by her hair during an argument over the volume of a television while the couple's son was present on June 3, 2024. She left the house after the altercation.

When she came back the following day and started to take a shower, she said Barnett took her wallet. When she stepped out of the shower to ask for her wallet back, he "grabbed her by the neck and dropped her on the floor."

While she was on the floor, he choked her until she was unconscious while reportedly threatening to kill her and telling her, "She would never be in another relationship again," a presentence report says.

Barnett pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence unlawful imprisonment, a felony, which would carry one to 2.75 years in prison.

On Dec. 5, 2024, he was given the presumptive sentence of 1.75 years by Pima County Superior Court Judge J. Alan Goodwin. Barnett was given credit for 122 days of time served, which meant he would have 122 days subtracted from his prison sentence to account for the time he spent in jail awaiting his sentencing.

Authorities ask that anyone with information on the Aug. 19 shooting or Barnett's whereabouts call 911 or report anonymously through 88-CRIME.