{"id":21219,"date":"2026-07-29T19:06:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21219"},"modified":"2026-07-29T19:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:06:48","slug":"illegal-migrant-allegedly-killed-connecticut-cop-and-his-girlfriend-in-dui-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21219","title":{"rendered":"Illegal migrant allegedly killed Connecticut cop and his girlfriend in DUI crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2F135850795.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An illegal migrant allegedly killed an off-duty Connecticut cop and his girlfriend in a head-on crash while drunk and high, according to police. <\/p>\n<p>Melissa Ramirez, 27, sobbed as she appeared in court Monday charged with manslaughter over the deaths of Cooper Whiteside, 38, and his partner, Brittany Islami, 34, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newstimes.com\/news\/article\/danbury-fatal-crash-whiteside-islami-ramirez-22361485.php\">News-Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ramirez, a mom of two from Mexico, allegedly clocked speeds of 56 mph in a 45 mph zone when she hit Whiteside\u2019s Harley-Davidson at around 3 a.m. in Danbury on July 13, sending him and his passenger girlfriend flying.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Melissa Ramirez appeared in court Monday on manslaughter charges. <span class=\"credit\">News 12 Connecticut<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Whiteside, a Bridgeport police officer, was found \u201clying in a supine position\u201d and he sustained \u201csignificant injuries to his head, upper extremities and torso,\u201d police said in their report <a href=\"https:\/\/connecticutcentinal.com\/culture\/2026\/07\/27\/dui-driver-charged-in-deaths-of-bridgeport-officer-and-girlfriend-faces-immigration-detainer\/\">seen by Connecticut Centinal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis right femur was protruding through the skin,\u201d cops added, noting there was a \u201clarge pool of blood\u201d in the road.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement to The Post that Ramirez was in the country illegally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMelissa Esperanza Ramirez-Romero is a criminal illegal alien with charges for Vehicular Manslaughter and DUI. On July 26, 2026, ICE lodged a detainer against her,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n<p>Islami \u2014 a mom to three children aged 7, 10, and 12 \u2014 suffered \u201csignificant injuries\u201d and \u201chad blood around her face,\u201d police said, noting she wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet. <\/p>\n<p>The couple died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiner.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators also discovered the crash happened in the motorcycle lane, suggesting Ramirez\u2019s Jeep had crossed lanes.<\/p>\n<p>Ramirez was interrogated and told cops she had one 12-ounce Corona beer, and initially laughed when they asked her if she had taken any drugs.<\/p>\n<p>She later admitted that she took cannabis on July 10, three days before the crash.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cooper Whiteside, a Bridgeport police officer, was killed in an early morning crash on  July 13.  <span class=\"credit\">Redding PD<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Aaron Wolen, one of the responding cops, \u201cnoticed that her eyes were watery and bloodshot and that a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from her person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beer was found spilled in Ramirez\u2019s car, and investigators found a THC vape cartridge.<\/p>\n<p>Ramirez\u2019s blood alcohol content was 0.14 \u2013 almost twice the legal limit \u2013 and she tested positive for cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>She was arrested last Friday, the day of Whiteside\u2019s funeral, and was charged with manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol\/drugs, traveling unreasonably fast, and failure to drive in the correct lanes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Brittany Islami, a mom, was also killed.  <span class=\"credit\">Dignity Memorial<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ramirez\u2019s lawyer, Daniel Thibodeau, said she\u2019s lived in Connecticut for her whole life and \u201clacks any type of criminal record whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ramirez\u2019s license has been suspended indefinitely, and she\u2019s set to appear in court on Aug. 31.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An illegal migrant allegedly killed an off-duty Connecticut cop and his girlfriend in a head-on crash while drunk and high, according to police. Melissa Ramirez, 27, sobbed as she appeared in court Monday charged with manslaughter over the deaths of Cooper Whiteside, 38, and his partner, Brittany Islami, 34, the News-Times reported. Ramirez, a mom&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/135850795.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}