PORTLAND, ORE. (CN) - A woman's ex-boyfriend stabbed her to death after a Multnomah County probation officer ignored her repeated complaints that the man was violating a court order and harassing, threatening and assaulting her - and the county ignored her because she was a black female victim of domestic violence, her estate claims in Federal Court.
Gilberto Pedroso stabbed Claudia Rhone to death on May 2, 2006. "The police had visited Rhone's home twice on the day of her death: once in response to a call by Rhone that Pedroso had held a knife to her throat; the second in response to a call by a neighbor that Pedroso had tried to break into Rhone's home," the complaint states. "Pedroso was convicted by a jury of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years."
The estate claims that defendant parole officer Carmen Montano failed to take "any action against Pedroso" despite Rhone's repeated complaints that he was terrorizing her.
Represented by Judy Snyder, the estate demands punitive damages.
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