Twenty-seven year-old Melissa Esperanza Ramirez-Romero, a Mexican national whom the Department of Homeland Security described as a criminal illegal alien, has, according to reports from The New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and related social media documentation (including claims reviewed with assistance from Connecticut Centinal), Ramirez is listed on Connecticut voter rolls and has voted repeatedly.
Matching records cited include a Melissa Ramirez with the same July 4, 1999, date of birth registered as an unaffiliated voter in New Britain (Voter ID 4838402, effective August 14, 2017, Booth Street address), with address history reportedly linking a Melissa Ramirez Romero from Stamford to New Britain. Advocacy groups have filed FOIA requests to further verify the voting history. A Democrat-appointed judge later reduced her bond from $500,000 to $300,000, citing community ties. (Primary sources: The Gateway Pundit, July 2026; New York Post reporting on the crash and immigration status; circulating voter-roll data and FOIA efforts.)
Ramirez-Romero came to the attention of the Danbury Police after she struck a motorcycle in Danbury, Connecticut, killing off-duty Bridgeport police officer Cooper Whiteside, 38, and his girlfriend Brittany Islami, 34. Ramirez faces charges including two counts of second-degree manslaughter and DUI. She allegedly drove while intoxicated (BAC 0.14, nearly twice the legal limit) and under the influence of cannabis.
ICE has lodged a detainer against her.
