LEXINGTON — Homicide detectives say language barriers are stifling their investigations of four homicides that occurred within the Hispanic community this year.

        Lexington police have issued warrants in two homicides of Hispanic men within the last month. And police have no suspects in two more stabbing deaths of Hispanic males.

        Police say they have received few answers from the Hispanic community.

        “Any time you have a language barrier, it's going to slow you down,” said Lt. P.T. Richardson of the robbery-homicide division.

        The two Hispanic suspects, Nicholas Morales Ramirez and Marciano Santos-Vasquez, are wanted in separate stabbing deaths that occurred in July and August. Neither man has been located by police.

        The bodies of two more Hispanic men were found a few miles apart on rural Fayette County roads earlier this year. The deaths appear related, but no suspects have been named.

        Lexington police continue to train officers through an exchange program with Mexico and language lessons, but the department still has only a small number of translators.

        In robbery-homicide, Lt. Richardson said, only two officers have a “working knowledge” of Spanish. As a result, he said, interviewing Spanish-speaking witnesses to a homicide takes more time.

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