San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis says she's going to review the case of a City College student found murdered in a bathroom at the school.
In September, 19-year-old Diana Gonzalez told police her husband, 37-year-old Armando Perez, had kidnapped and raped her. He was arrested and released.
Gonzalez was found murdered inside a men’s restroom on the campus of San Diego City College on Oct. 12. Perez is wanted for questioning in the case.
Dumanis addressed the recent case and criticism of how her office handled the September incident at a ceremony marking National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“Is it a perfect system? No. Can we save every victim? No. Still, when domestic violence escalates to murder, even one victim is a victim too many,” she said.
Domestic violence-related deaths doubled last year over the previous year, Dumanis said. Countywide, there were 17,000 reports of domestic violence last year.
“Believe me, I wish we could file criminal charges in every one of these cases. But the reality is that we can’t,” said Dumanis.
“We are ethically bound to only file when we truly believe we can [prove charges beyond a reasonably doubt,” she said.
Dumanis reminded the public that her office has a team of specially-trained prosectuors who are not afraid to tackle domestic violence cases.
San Diegan Marilyn Brock spoke about the murder of her daughter, 31-year old Dawnna Wright on June 12, 2007.
Wright’s boyfriend Roger McDowell brought a dozen roses to her office where he shot and killed her.
"I can't bring Dawnna back, but I can stand here and say that I'm here to fight for justice as it has served me, I hope that everyone here will recognize we need to stop this,” Brock said.
“We have to stand together to stop this,” she said.
McDowell was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison.
Dumanis says early intervention in domestic violence cases is key to dealing with the problem. The San Diego Domestic Violence Council offers help for victims of domestic violence and those who know them online. There is also a hotline available 24 hours a day at 1 (888) DVLINKS.
