Crime & Safety
SMC Forms Domestic Violence Task Force After 5 Women Killed
Apart from the mass shooting that rocked Half Moon Bay, all of San Mateo County's homicides this year have been from domestic violence.
SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — Their names were Grace, Yesenia, Claribel, Maria and Frances, and they all shared the same sad fate: They were killed this year in San Mateo County, allegedly by their partners.
Now the county is putting together a task force to address the problem. The Domestic Violence Task Force brings together advocates, survivors and county officials to save lives by identifying gaps in services and strengthening response and support systems, the county said in an announcement Thursday.
Apart from a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay in January, the county said that the deaths of Grace Kelly, 49, Yesenia Lopez-Hernandez, 41, Claribel Estrella, 41, Maria Romero-Molina, 30 and Frances Lucero, 27, have been the only homicides in San Mateo County this year, and they were all the result of domestic violence.
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Kelly was shot and killed in her Daly City garage. The stabbing death of Lopez-Hernandez in Redwood City left children ages 17 and 5 without a mom and they had to set up a GoFundMe account to pay for her funeral and other expenses. Estrella's brutal stabbing in San Mateo was recorded and posted to Facebook by her alleged killer. Romero-Molina was strangled to death in South San Francisco. Lucero was shot and killed in Daly City in front of her two young children, ages 3 and 4.
"These victims deserved safety," said Supervisor Noelia Corzo in a statement released by the county. "Their children deserve their mothers and freedom from violence."
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Corzo is the chair of the county's Domestic Violence Council and a member of the task force, along with Sheriff Christina Corpus. It also includes officials from the courts, legal aid, board of education, District Attorney's Office, and the nonprofit Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse or CORA.
The Domestic Violence Council estimates that 10,000 people in San Mateo County are impacted by domestic violence each year.
According to the county, the idea for the task force came up at Monday's meeting of the Domestic Violence Council. The task force is going to report back to the council with an action plan.
Story by Katy St. Clair, Bay City News.
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