Kwang Chol "KC" Joy, 54, is charged in Ramos' murder. His arraignment was continued to June 7. Joy remains behind bars on $1 million bail.
Prosecutors allege Joy got into a fight with Ramos after she told him to move out because he wasn't paying the rent. Authorities suspect there could also be another motive.
"He may have been infatuated with her and I don't know if that was necessarily mutual," said prosecutor Scott Simmons.
Ramos' family and friends were present in court.
"Right now, we have no words. We've never gone though this situation," said Frank Campos, Ramos' cousin.
Ramos, 36, went missing three weeks ago. She was last seen May 2 on surveillance video outside her apartment building in Orange dropping off a rent check at the leasing office. Police say she was alone. Joy and Ramos had been roommates for 18 months before her death.
Joy told Eyewitness News shortly after Ramos went missing that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
"Not at all. Not at all. I just need her back. I need her to come back because she's my best friend, actually she's my only friend, my only family member I have, so I miss her," he said.
Her disappearance prompted an intense search. Her body was found in Modjeska Canyon Friday. Joy was arrested that day.
Ramos' family shies away from answering questions about Joy, choosing instead to focus on Ramos.
"Maribel has done a lot of things for us. She's fought for our country, and here we are fighting for her as well," Campos said.
Ramos was supposed to graduate from Cal State Fullerton with a criminal justice degree Sunday. Her niece will accept her diploma on her behalf.
