One thing is clear: A woman named Melissa Esperanza Ramirez of Stamford is accused of manslaughter in a crash that killed an off-duty police officer and his passenger in Danbury on July 13.
But, state officials said Thursday, there are at least two women in Connecticut with that name, and they share a birthday: the accused, who lives in Stamford, and a woman legally registered to vote in New Britain who had nothing to do with the Danbury crash that killed Bridgeport police officer Cooper Whiteside and his passenger Brittany Islami.
That confusion apparently snared Danbury police, who, in a July 24 arrest warrant application, wrote that the Ramirez they arrested had a valid driver’s license with a New Britain address. She was charged with two counts of manslaughter, driving under the influence and other crimes.
The Department of Homeland Security also alleged that the accused Ramirez — actually of Stamford — is undocumented.
Officials said multiple news outlets, armed with incorrect information that the accused had a New Britain address, did some online sleuthing that led them to question why an undocumented person was registered to vote in New Britain — mistakenly identifying the New Britain woman as the suspect in the Danbury crash.
Rep. Cara Pavalok-D’Amato, R-Bristol, wrote on Facebook, “THE ILLEGAL ALIEN THAT KILLED 2 PEOPLE IN DANBURY IN A DUI CRASH WAS REGISTERED TO VOTE IN CT. Voter FRAUD IS ALIVE AND WELL IN CT. Let the lawsuits begin!”
Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas called the reporting “reckless.”
“Melissa Esperanza Ramirez of Stamford … is not, and has never been, registered to vote in Connecticut,” Thomas said in a statement released Thursday evening.
“The voter registration record circulating online belongs to a different person: a United States citizen from New Britain who is legally registered to vote in Connecticut,” she said.
“An innocent Connecticut resident had her name, her personal information, and her reputation thrust into the center of a national political debate because too many people were more interested in confirming a narrative than verifying the facts,” the statement continued.
The release said the secretary of the state’s office consulted its voter-registration system to confirm that Ramirez of Stamford “has never been registered to vote in Connecticut.”
A separate release from the Department of Motor Vehicles stated that “Melissa Esperanza Ramirez, a resident of Stamford, has never held a Connecticut issued license or identification card.”
In a Facebook post, Danbury police stated that “a woman from New Britain, as well as possibly others with similar names, are being mistakenly identified as the individual responsible for the fatal crash.”
Danbury police did not respond to requests for comment.
“Despite this, screenshots of [the New Britain Ramirez’s] voter registration record were altered or presented in a way that falsely suggested they belong to the Stamford defendant,” Thomas’ statement continued. “The misinformation was then amplified online and repeated by elected officials and news organizations before the central claim — that the defendant was the registered voter — had been proven.”
“As a result of misinformation pushed in a rush to advance a political agenda, an innocent woman has had her personal details spread across social media and is now facing threats over a crime she had nothing to do with,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement released Thursday evening. “Social media rewards speed over accuracy, but there are real-world consequences when that habit meets a tragedy like this one. I’m asking everyone, and especially members of the media and elected officials, to slow down and verify information before sharing.”
