There are a lot of unanswered questions about the domestic violence case that led to a young mother being murdered in a City College campus bathroom. The Gonzalez case is an on-going investigation and officials are refusing to talk about it. But, no doubt, it was on everybody's mind as they talked about National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and early intervention being the key.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis was in attendance, so was the Chief of the County Probation Department and the mother of 2007 domestic violence murder victim Dawnna Wright. All of them hoping to make a dent into a crime out of control.
Last year, 16 other victims were also murdered by their intimate partners, compared to 2008 there has been a 100 percent increase in domestic violence related fatalities.
It gets worse, countywide there were 17,000 reports of domestic violence last year, of which 6,000 were actually reviewed by the District Attorney's Office.
Domestic violence cases are taxing a probation department that along with every other county agency, has seen cutbacks. The San Diego County Probation Department currently supervises more than 700 felony domestic violent offenders.
The case that has everyone shaking their heads happened a week ago at City College. 19-year-old Diana Gonzales was found murdered in a bathroom allegedly by her estranged husband who had a history of violence. Some believe the system let her down when she had previously reported abuse and petitioned for a restraining order. But the bottom line is the system can only go so far.
The search for the suspect of the Gonzales murder, Armando Perez, still continues; it is suspected that Perez fled to Mexico. Weeks before the brutal murder, Perez was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping Gonzalez, but the D.A.'s office opted not to file charges.
If you or anyone you know is suffering abuse at the hands of someone else, verbally or physically there certainly is help out there. You can start with a phone call to the domestic violence hotline, 1-888-dv-links or (888) 305-SAFE.
For more resources see our related links.
