On the night John Clarke fired a shot at Tiffany Williams on Colburn Street, Toledo police Lt. Frank Ramirez was on the phone with a dispatcher trying to find out what had happened to his friend’s mother, who also lived on Colburn.

The elderly woman, as it would turn out, died of natural causes at her home the same night.

Mr. Ramirez, who is on trial in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, is accused of setting up Ms. Williams and telling Clarke when and where he could find her. He can be heard on a recording of his phone call with dispatcher Tori Baertschi laughing when she tells him someone was “having chest pains” and someone was “possibly shot.”

He does not mention John Clarke or Maytee Vazquez-Clarke. He does not mention that the Clarkes may be responsible for shooting at Ms. Williams.

“In that conversation, did he give you the name of any suspects?” Micah Ault, an assistant attorney general, asked Ms. Baertschi.

“No,” she replied.

“Is that something that, if he would have given it to you, would have been helpful?” Mr. Ault asked.

“Yes,” she said.

Mr. Ramirez, 60, of the 5900 block of Tetherwood Drive, is charged with attempted murder, felonious assault, discharge of a firearm over a highway, tampering with evidence, and obstructing justice in connection with the Dec. 26, 2014, shooting incident.

Clarke, 46, previously entered an Alford plea and was found guilty of felonious assault and a firearm specification, while his wife entered an Alford plea to retaliation. In exchange for their pleas, several charges are to be dismissed at sentencing and both agreed to testify against Mr. Ramirez, who retired from the police department last year.

The case against the 31-year police veteran is far from clear-cut.

Prosecutors allege the Clarkes wanted Ms. Williams dead, that they were “hunting” her and others they believed were involved in the 2011 murder of their son, Johnny Clarke, and that Mr. Ramirez had “joined their cause.” 

However, Clarke insisted on the witness stand Thursday that he fired just one shot from his van window into the air to scare Ms. Williams. He also testified that Mr. Ramirez told him to do it and that Vazquez-Clarke knew nothing of the plan.

Ms. Williams, 29, testified earlier this week that she saw Clarke get out of the van and that he fired two shots at her — one of which whizzed by her ear, the other which nearly grazed her leg. She also told the jury that she “did not personally know” Mr. Ramirez.

Vazquez-Clarke returned to the witness stand Friday and, under cross-examination, explained what a series of text messages she sent to Mr. Ramirez meant. 

In several, she talked about hunting Ms. Williams and others. She testified she wanted them arrested, not killed.

“Why would I want to kill them? I want them in prison for killing my son,” she said.

Judge Gene Zmuda asked jurors to return at 1 p.m. Tuesday for closing arguments in the trial, which began Monday.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published September 3, 2016, 4:00 a.m.