SLC man sent to prison for beating childhood friend to death

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man has been sentenced to up to life in prison for beating his childhood friend to death with a flashlight.

Robert Carlos Munoz, 29, pleaded guilty last month to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced the same day to 25 years to life in prison, according to court records. Additional charges of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

As he pleaded guilty, Munoz admitted he was "under the influence of controlled substances" on April 5 when he got into an argument with his friend, 27-year-old Michael Ramirez, about the money that Ramirez had in his pocket. During the confrontation, Munoz picked up a flashlight with a Taser on the end of it and beat Ramirez over the head until he died, according to the plea.

The two were in the garage at Munoz's home, 1267 W. 900 South, according to police. Munoz took the $1,400 from Ramirez's pockets and left his body in the garage, going back into the house where he told his mother to "go to the garage and see what happened to Michael," charges state.

Munoz left the house and was arrested several days later.

An autopsy determined Ramirez's injuries included multiple skull fractures and a broken jaw.

Evelyn Chavez, Ramirez's mother, told KSL the two men grew up together. She said the cash her son was carrying that night was for a new car.

Additional charges against Munoz — robbery, a second-degree felony, and assault, a class B misdemeanor — in a separate domestic violence incident that allegedly happened the day before Ramirez was killed were also dismissed as part of the plea deal, according to court records.

In that incident, prosecutors say Munoz went to the house where his daughter and the child's mother live. He and the mother began to fight and Munoz allegedly pushed the woman onto a bed, held her down while trying to bite her nose and later punched her in the face with a closed fist, according to charging documents.