A 34-year-old suspect was arrested Monday for the drug-related deaths of two men partying at several New York City nightclubs last year after police found a horrifying video of the body of one of the victims on his cell phone. found it.
Police recently executed a search warrant on Robert Demaio’s cell phone and found videos of him and another suspect in political consultant John Umberger’s apartment before he was found dead last May.
One of the videos showed Umberger lying face up in bed and apparently unconscious, an unnamed source told The New York Post.
Umberger, 33, was in the same position when he was found dead by first responders.
A medical examiner has now ruled his death – along with that of 25-year-old Julio Ramirez – a homicide, saying both victims died in a “drug-facilitated robbery.”
Robert Demaio, 34, turned himself in to authorities on Monday after police discovered video of John Umberger’s lifeless body on his cellphone
Umberger, 33, a political consultant from Washington, D.C., fell victim to murder after leaving a gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen in May 2022. Umberger was in New York on business
Julio Ramirez, 25, was a New York social worker and was another victim killed in April 2022 after a night out at Hell’s Kitchen. He was found dead in the back of a taxi
Both Umberger and Ramirez were last seen leaving gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen with strangers before being found dead of a suspected drug overdose with fraudulent charges on their cards.
They were allegedly targeted by thieves who drugged them to drain their bank accounts before leaving the victims to die.
Authorities now say Demaio, as well as his accomplices Jacob Barroso, 30, and Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, gave deadly drug cocktails to Umberger and Ramirez when they partied at gay clubs in Hell’s Kitchen in separate cases last year.
The crew allegedly stole thousands of dollars from their victims in at least 17 drug-induced robberies last year, befriending an unwitting victim at a large Manhattan club and knocking them out with a cocktail of drugs they allegedly pass it off as regular cocaine.
They then took the victims’ mobile phones to transfer money electronically from their bank accounts.
“The defendant and others approached drunk individuals leaving bars and nightclubs,” prosecutor Emily Chang said of Demaio.
“Those targeted victims would be offered a substance promoted as cocaine, and the intoxication of these drugs resulted in the victims becoming incapacitated,” she continued. “The incapacity for work led to the death of two people.”
Jacob Barroso, 30, was charged with murder in connection with Ramirez’s death. He was ordered held without bail on Monday
A third member of the gang, Andre Butts, was sentenced to $100,000 bail or $150,000 bail.
Umberger’s body was found June 1 in the Midtown Manhattan townhouse (pictured) where he was staying
Umberger, a Washington DC political consultant, was found on May 28, 2022, on the fifth floor of an Upper East Side townhouse, days after he disappeared from The Q NYC gay club.
Police later traced subsequent purchases made with his credit cards and linked his death to the series of nightclub robberies last year.
Meanwhile, Ramirez was found dead in the back of a cab on the Lower East Side after he was seen partying at The Ritz Bar and Lounge on April 21, 2022.
Both men died from ‘acute intoxication’ of the same deadly cocktail ‘fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol’. Ramirez also had “heroin” in his body, the coroner revealed.
“Our entire city continues to mourn the tragic losses of Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Umberger,” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
“In addition to the unimaginable pain their families and loved ones endure, I know that many other New Yorkers have feared for their own safety as they experience New York’s vibrant nightlife.”
Authorities are now investigating a separate gang for the alleged murder of fashion designer Katie Gallagher (pictured here in 2014)
Demaio was charged with murder and robbery last month and turned himself in to police at the 5th Precinct station on Monday — two days after Barroso turned himself in.
Demaio and Barroso, as well as the gang’s third alleged member, Andre Butts, were arraigned in Manhattan’s Supreme Court on Monday.
Police are still searching for another suspect in the gang, Jayqwan Hamilton, 34, who was indicted by a Manhattan Grand Jury on murder charges in the deaths of the two victims
Demaio and Barroso were held without bail by Judge Angela Badamo, while Butts – who is also charged with a June robbery – was held on $100,000 bail or $150,000 bail.
Police are still looking for another suspect in the gang, Jayqwan Hamilton, 34, who was indicted by a Manhattan Grand Jury on murder charges in the deaths of the two victims. Barroso was also charged with Ramirez’s death, but not Umberger’s.
Another member of their crew, Shane Haskins, was arrested Thursday and is being held on Rikers Island on $50,000 bail or $100,000 bail.
This investigation led to a second pattern of at least 26 drug and robbery assaults involving various suspects and possibly an additional five overdose deaths.
In these cases, the suspects befriend their victims in bars where they offer them drugs or slip their drinks before forcibly stealing money, phones, and jewelry.
The gang is blamed for the drug death of fashion designer Kate Gallagher, who was found dead in her Lower East Side apartment in July after being fed a deadly concoction.
Police have already identified Kenwood Allen, a 33-year-old career criminal, as a person of interest in the designer’s death.
Allen – who has 17 previous arrests – has already been charged with the death of Nurbo Shera on March 18, 2022 at a club on Seventh Street and the death of Ardijan Berisha on July 30, 2022.