Gang that preys on gay men has killed TWO and drugged and robbed a dozen others Alvin Bragg impeding – Daily Mail

New York’s gay community appears to the target of a gang that lures its victims at nightlife hotspots before drugging and robbing them, often by using their own cellphones to drain their accounts. 

Two gay men have so far been killed in eerily similar circumstances just five weeks apart, but more than a dozen are believed to have been targeted so far.

Both John Umberger, 33, a Washington, DC, political consultant who disappeared in May and Julio Ramirez, 25, who vanished in April had been out enjoying a night out on the city’s gay scene before ending up dead the following day.

The men’s cellphones were both missing at the time their bodies were found and their bank accounts containing tens of thousands of dollars had been emptied.

So far, five months after their deaths, there has been no word from woke Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who appears to be ‘impeding’ the investigation. 

No warning has even been issued to the gay community for people to be on the lookout for anything suspicious when they’re on a night out. 

The gang’s MO sees them preying on gay men in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. In both instances, the victims were seen leaving a gay club or bar accompanied by three men. 

Finally, one of the men’s mothers is now speaking out in a desperate bid to draw attention to the sickening case. 

‘I can’t be quiet anymore. Word needs to get out, especially in the gay community, that they are targeting gay men. This same group of killers have drugged, robbed and murdered countless young gay men in New York,’ Linda Clary, Umberger’s mom, told the New York Post. 

‘New York is unnecessarily unsafe, and it breaks my heart because John was so excited to be in Manhattan. He loved being there. He was a little ray of sunshine.

‘We need to stop this,’ she continued. 

In the time her son’s killers have been on the loose, Clary believes the gang has likely killed other young man.  

And although grateful for the diligence of the detectives investigating Umberger’s death who have worked identified suspects, she claims the District Attorney’s Office is ‘refusing to prosecute my son’s killers.’

Umberger had been on a night out on May 28 and visited The Q NYC, a gay nightclub featuring DJs, drag shows and stand-up comedy across several floors.

He had gone to the club alone following dinner with friends at Tao Downtown in Chelsea.

Records show his credit card was last used at about 3am. He was later seen having been captured on surveillance footage outside the Upper East Side townhouse where he was staying. 

Footage clearly shows him getting out of the car with two other men and entering the townhouse. 

The pair then leave after 45 minutes. 

What happened in the hours afterwards remain a mystery as someone appeared to respond to text messages on Umberger’s phone. 

Eventually, his phone stopped pinging his location, but text appeared as ‘read’ so Clary assumed her son was safe.  

‘I thought John was reading my texts but was too busy and ignoring me. You let a day go by, a day go by and then you say this is weird.’

Her son’s body was found four days later in a fifth-floor apartment of a townhouse owned by Jay Sekulow’s American Center for Law and Justice, where Umberger had been employed as the director of diplomacy and political programs. 

His credit cards had been stolen together with his cellphone. The cards were used to buy liquor close to a homeless shelter while items were also purchased at a Foot Locker.

Further more $25,000 had been drained from his accounts using various cash-related apps on his phone including Venmo and PayPal with gang members able to change the passwords to gain access. 

Mom, Clary, who hails from Atlanta was in New York at the weekend to get political as she recorded a video message for a group supporting Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin for New York State Governor.  

‘Lee Zeldin has promised to restore safety to New York and to fire District Attorney Alvin Bragg on day one. This election may be the last opportunity to hold my son’s killers accountable,’ she stated.

But it appears that Umberger was not the gang’s first victim.

Just five weeks earlier, Ramirez, a social worker from Brooklyn, disappeared in a similar situation.

He was caught on a surveillance camera leaving gay club, The Ritz Bar and Lounge, only two blocks from The Q NYC.

Again, three men were spotted as Ramirez left the club on a Thursday night in April.

One hour later, he was found dead in the back of a taxi on the Lower East Side with his phone and wallet were missing.  

$20,000 had been sucked out of his accounts using apps on his phone including Zelle, while his credit cards were used to pay for pricey dinners and treatments at spas.

Umberger and Ramirez died from drug overdoses according to preliminary toxicology reports but sources have said the pair had their drinks spiked with a date-rape drug.

It is unclear what has caused the lengthy delay in getting the results of the tests but the Post suggests Bragg’s office is likely overworked thanks to ‘an unprecedented number of resignations of assistant district attorneys’ who dislike changes to bail reform.

Before the pandemic, New York State brought in sweeping bail reforms in an effort to reduce low-level offender prison populations. 

It released many repeat offenders back into the community. 

That was compounded in New York City by the election of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who told his staff to avoid imposing cash bail wherever they could.  

It now sees staff within the DA office ordered to stop seeking prison sentences and instead downgrade felony charges in some cases.

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