Phone records, a WhatsApp location and surveillance video helped investigators reconstruct Gabriel Arrazola Perez’s final hours.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A WhatsApp location, repeated phone calls and surveillance recordings led investigators to a 24-year-old man charged with killing barbershop owner Gabriel Arrazola Perez beside railroad tracks in St. Paul, according to a criminal complaint.

Omar Andres Ramos Castro faces one count of second-degree murder in the May 24 stabbing of Arrazola Perez, 44. Police arrested Ramos Castro on June 4 after tracing communications between the two men and comparing video from the railroad corridor with footage from a nearby convenience store. He remained in the Ramsey County Jail under a $2.5 million bond. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 40 years in prison, though the case remains pending and the allegations have not been proved in court.

Arrazola Perez’s last known day began away from the isolated stretch of track where police later found him. His family told investigators that he attended a gathering at a local brewery on May 24 and left at about 4 p.m. He indicated that he planned to return, but relatives did not hear from him again. Phone records later showed that he placed several calls to the same number during the hours after leaving the gathering. The person using that number returned a call at 6:34 p.m., the complaint said. Investigators determined that the number was associated with Ramos Castro and that its location data placed the phone near the railroad tracks before, during and after the time police believe the killing occurred. Those records gave detectives a sequence to compare with surveillance footage gathered from the neighborhood.

Video from the railroad area showed two men entering or walking around the tracks at about 7:03 p.m., according to investigators. Later recordings provided a grim marker in the timeline. Police said Arrazola Perez’s body was not visible in earlier footage but could be clearly seen between 8:55 p.m. and 11:12 p.m. The video did not publicly establish every moment of the encounter, and authorities have not said that cameras recorded the stabbing itself. Still, investigators said the images narrowed the likely period of the killing and showed Arrazola Perez accompanied by another man. Detectives then looked for cameras along nearby streets and businesses that might show where the second person went. Footage from a Speedway convenience store captured a man dressed like the person seen with Arrazola Perez near the tracks, the complaint said.

The next morning, a man walking his English bulldog near the 1400 block of Case Avenue noticed the dog pulling toward the railroad corridor. He followed and found a body at about 11 a.m. on May 25. The man called 911 and told police the body had not been there the previous day. Officers found a driver’s license and an eyeglasses prescription that helped identify Arrazola Perez. His Subaru Crosstrek was located about half a mile away. The separation between the vehicle and the body became another part of the route investigators worked to reconstruct. Police searched the tracks and surrounding ground for property, weapons and other evidence that could explain how Arrazola Perez arrived there and whom he had gone to meet.

A police dog helped officers find Arrazola Perez’s cellphone on May 26. Investigators said fingerprints recovered from the phone did not match him. A review of the device showed communications with the number police had linked to Ramos Castro. The person using that number had sent Arrazola Perez a location pin through WhatsApp, directing him to an area close to where his body was discovered, according to the complaint. That message tied the planned meeting to a precise place rather than merely showing that the men had spoken. Authorities have not publicly explained why the location was chosen, what either man expected to happen there or whether anyone else knew about the meeting. Police also have not disclosed whether they recovered the pocketknife Ramos Castro later described.

Detectives used the convenience-store video and other investigative information to trace the second man to an apartment. Officers arrested Ramos Castro and questioned him with the help of a Spanish-language interpreter. His account changed as investigators presented evidence, the complaint said. He first told police that he had met Arrazola Perez only once, when the barbershop owner offered him work clearing construction debris from a home. He denied that they had a friendship or relationship. Ramos Castro later acknowledged receiving calls from Arrazola Perez inviting him to eat or smoke marijuana. He initially denied seeing him on May 24 and denied being at the railroad tracks, according to the court filing.

When detectives confronted Ramos Castro with phone and video evidence, he said he had spent about 10 minutes with Arrazola Perez near the tracks. He claimed other people were present and said he left Arrazola Perez alone. His account changed again during further questioning. Ramos Castro eventually admitted that the two men had an encounter and that he stabbed Arrazola Perez with a pocketknife, the complaint said. He told police that Arrazola Perez made unwanted sexual advances and reached toward his crotch despite his objections. Ramos Castro said he became “filled with rage” and believed he needed to defend himself. He said he could not remember how many times he stabbed Arrazola Perez because he was overwhelmed by anger.

The physical evidence described by prosecutors documented numerous wounds. The medical examiner found stab wounds to Arrazola Perez’s back, neck, chest and abdomen, along with injuries described as defensive wounds. Three vertebrae in his neck and back were fractured, and one abdominal injury caused part of his large bowel to protrude, according to the complaint. Those findings are likely to become central as the prosecution and defense address Ramos Castro’s account of the encounter. Investigators have not publicly released a complete autopsy report, toxicology results or forensic testing from all items collected at the scene. The complaint also does not resolve whether Arrazola Perez was standing, attempting to flee or fighting back during each part of the attack.

A friend of Arrazola Perez told CBS Minnesota that the allegation of inappropriate touching did not fit the man she knew. Criminal defense attorney Jennifer Pradt, who does not represent either side, said the case could produce significant disputes before trial over how the claimed sexual advance may be presented to jurors. She said a defense built around that claim could rely on jurors’ prejudice toward a gay victim. No court has determined whether Ramos Castro acted in self-defense, whether his description of the encounter is credible or whether the number and placement of the wounds contradict his account. Prosecutors must prove the murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt, while the defense may challenge the state’s reconstruction and interpretation of the evidence.

The investigation also unfolded against a wave of grief among Arrazola Perez’s relatives, friends and customers. He owned Barbers on Bryant in Minneapolis and had become known to clients across the Twin Cities. His family described him as their protector, provider and the person who held them together. Danielle Robinson Briand, an immigration attorney and friend, said his death took the community by surprise. She first met him while helping him obtain U.S. citizenship in 2022 and said he had worked to protect his relatives during increased immigration enforcement in the region. Those accounts present a broader picture of the man whose last movements were reduced in the complaint to call logs, location data and seconds of surveillance video.

Federal immigration officials later said they had lodged a detainer against Ramos Castro. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he reported entering the country illegally from El Salvador in 2023 and had no lawful status. The detainer asks local authorities to notify federal officers before a release, but it does not decide the state murder case or establish guilt. The Ramsey County prosecution remains separate from any immigration proceeding. Ramos Castro’s custody status, future hearings and possible trial schedule will be determined through state court, where attorneys may seek additional records, forensic reports, expert testimony and rulings on what statements or evidence jurors may hear.

Currently, Ramos Castro stands accused of second-degree murder, and no trial result had been announced. The case now turns from the police reconstruction of a digitally arranged meeting to courtroom disputes over intent, self-defense and the evidence from Arrazola Perez’s final hours.

Author note: Last updated July 10, 2026.