Three men arrested on charges of drugging, killing, robbing gay men in New York

Three suspects have been arrested and charged for a string of targeted attacks on gay men in New York City's Hell's Kitchen area where the suspects would allegedly drug and then rob men they met at nightclubs in the area, and in two cases the men were murdered.

According to the New York Post last week 35-year-old Jayqwan Hamilton of Brooklyn, 34-year-old Robert Demaio of Brooklyn, and 30-year-old Jacob Barroso of Manhattan were indicted in the murders of 33-year-old John Umberger and 25-year-old Julio Ramirez.

The three charged with murder were charged alongside three suspects with robbery, grand larceny, and conspiracy to drug and rob in connection to a string of 17 incidents in total that spanned September 2021 to August 2022. The gay nightclubs Q NYC and Ritz Bar and Lounge were two clubs where the gang targeted victims.

Umberger and Ramirez were murdered blocks away 5 weeks apart and following their deaths additional men started coming forward to report a similar methodology was used on them. Both men reportedly died of a drug overdose from being roofied and their phones were missing as was thousands of dollars from their bank accounts.

On March 3, the Medical Examiner revealed that the men were drugged by a cocktail that included cocaine, ethanol, fentanyl, and a mix of several other drugs.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who recently indicted Donald Trump, did not initially warn the public about the targeted attacks until police told the New York Post "Bragg’s office is impeding the investigation" in November 2022.

Ramirez, a Brooklyn social worker, was murdered and robbed of over $20,000 and 5 weeks later the same thing happened to Umberger, a political consultant from Washington, DC, and $25,000 was taken from his bank account. Umberger was found dead in his Upper East Side townhouse and was seen with three unidentified men. Ramirez died in the back of a taxi, also after leaving with a group of men.

NYPD Detective Randy Rose connected the additional robberies and the deaths of the men to a gang that was targeting gay men in Hell's Kitchen.

"This same group of killers have drugged, robbed and murdered countless young gay men in New York," Umberger's mother said of the gang.

The Post Millennial's Andy Ngo tweeted of the arrest and said, "These men are accused of preying on gay men in New York City by giving them fatal drug cocktails & then transferring tens of thousands of dollars out of their bank accounts as they died. We can expect the many NYC #LGBTQ+ groups to protest. Oh wait."