Editing Richard Ramirez (section)

==Early life==
Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas, the youngest of [[Julian Ramirez|Julian]] and Mercedes Ramirez's five children. His father, a policeman who later became a laborer on the Santa Fe railroad, was abusive and believed in corporal punishment.<ref name = Ramirez></ref> He was of Mexican origin.

As a child, Ramirez sustained two serious head injuries: one which occurred when a dresser fell on top of him and the second when he was knocked out by a swing. He also suffered from frequent epileptic seizures which he eventually grew out of.<ref name = Ramirez></ref>

Ramirez may have been influenced into killing by his cousin, [[Mike Ramirez]], a Special Forces veteran who boasted of his gruesome [[war crimes]] during the [[Vietnam War]] and showed him Polaroid pictures of his victims. These included pictures of Mike raping a Vietnamese woman. The last picture of that series showed Mike posing with the woman's severed head. Ramirez was present the night Mike shot and killed his wife, and her blood splattered on Ramirez's face. Ramirez was 13 years old at the time. After the murder, his behavior changed dramatically; he dropped out of school, began using drugs, and adopted odd sleeping habits.<ref name = Ramirez></ref><ref>[https://crimeviral.com/2021/03/richard-ramirez-cousin-mike-5-disturbing-facts/ Richard Ramirez & ‘Cousin Mike’: 5 Disturbing Facts], ''Crime Viral''</ref>