Nell
November 21st, 2008, 09:13 PM
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A woman who police say was fatally shot by her estranged boyfriend early Tuesday had recently obtained a protection order against the man.
In a handwritten note submitted to King County Superior Court on Oct. 27, Fatima Zavala described the threats that had led her to seek a protection order against her estranged boyfriend.
"About a month ago, I left my partner, the children's father," wrote the 25-year-old mother of three. "Since I left, he has been showing up at my work looking for me and waiting outside the restaurant until I get off work. He told me if he can't have me, no one will and threatened to kill me."
Police said the man made good on that threat early Tuesday morning when he burst into the Renton apartment where Zavala was staying and fatally shot her before killing himself. The couple's three children - a 5-year-old boy and two girls, 4 years and 11 months - were in the same apartment, police said.
The names of the man and the victim weren't released Tuesday by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, but friends and court records identified them as Zavala and her former boyfriend, Ricardo Melendez, 26.
The shooting came just eight days after Superior Court Commissioner Lori K. Smith issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Melendez from being within 500 feet of Zavala at her residence or workplace.
In her request for the order, Zavala described a pattern of abuse that went back years.
"Several years ago, before our first child was born, we had an argument and he grabbed me by the throat with both hands, strangling me. We have been together for 9 years. He used to hurt me frequently, hit me hard enough to leave bruises and has always blamed it on me," she wrote.
Zavala said Melendez once handed her $2 and told her to take it "so you can buy your candles" for a funeral.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008408353_murdersuicide19m.html
A woman who police say was fatally shot by her estranged boyfriend early Tuesday had recently obtained a protection order against the man.
In a handwritten note submitted to King County Superior Court on Oct. 27, Fatima Zavala described the threats that had led her to seek a protection order against her estranged boyfriend.
"About a month ago, I left my partner, the children's father," wrote the 25-year-old mother of three. "Since I left, he has been showing up at my work looking for me and waiting outside the restaurant until I get off work. He told me if he can't have me, no one will and threatened to kill me."
Police said the man made good on that threat early Tuesday morning when he burst into the Renton apartment where Zavala was staying and fatally shot her before killing himself. The couple's three children - a 5-year-old boy and two girls, 4 years and 11 months - were in the same apartment, police said.
The names of the man and the victim weren't released Tuesday by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, but friends and court records identified them as Zavala and her former boyfriend, Ricardo Melendez, 26.
The shooting came just eight days after Superior Court Commissioner Lori K. Smith issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Melendez from being within 500 feet of Zavala at her residence or workplace.
In her request for the order, Zavala described a pattern of abuse that went back years.
"Several years ago, before our first child was born, we had an argument and he grabbed me by the throat with both hands, strangling me. We have been together for 9 years. He used to hurt me frequently, hit me hard enough to leave bruises and has always blamed it on me," she wrote.
Zavala said Melendez once handed her $2 and told her to take it "so you can buy your candles" for a funeral.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008408353_murdersuicide19m.html