AMaryland man who was released from jail due to the COVID-19 pandemic is suspected of killing the woman he was accused of raping. According to the Washington Post, Ibrahim E. Bouaichi went to the home of his accuser Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez and fatally shot her outside of her Alexandria, Virginia apartment on July 29 around 6:20 a.m according to a news release.
On August 5, Bouaichi was seen by Alexandria police officers and federal marshals in Prince County, Virginia. After a police pursuit, he crashed his car and was found with an apparent self-inflicted wound, a police statement read. The Post reported that he is currently in critical condition.
Alexandria Police Department Announces Homicide Suspect Has Been Taken Into Custody: t.co/THA1cXi79t
Here’s what you need to know:
Dominguez Gonzalez Testified Against Bouaichi
Bouaichi was accused of raping Dominguez Gonzalez in October of 2019 and she later testified against him during a grand jury hearing at the Alexandria District Court in December 2019, the Post reported. After her testimony, the grand jury indicted the 33-year-old with rape, abduction, sodomy, burglary and strangulation charges and he was put in jail without bail. He was previously charged with malicious wounding as well but that charge was dismissed. His trial was supposed to start on March 30 but it was postponed due to courts shutting down once the pandemic was declared.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, his lawyers Manuel Leiva and Frank Salvato, argued for his release saying that it wasn’t safe for him to remain incarcerated due to the deadly virus, Fox News reported. In a motion, Leiva and Salvato said that “social distancing and proper disinfecting measures are impossible” and that Bouaichi’s “risk of contracting Covid-19 in a jail is exceedingly obvious,” according to the Post.
Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins released him on $25,000 bond on April 9 and he was restricted from leaving his home unless he was meeting with his lawyers or attending other pretrial services. Dawkins retired in June.
On May 8, he was found by police exhibiting bizarre behavior at a Wendy’s drive-thru in Greenbelt, Virginia. After crashing his car in a police car, he was taken to jail and charged with “two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, harming a law enforcement dog, resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated and multiple traffic charges,” the Post reported. He was later released on May 11 because his charges in Prince George County were not known about.
Leiva and Salvato released a statement saying that they were “certainly saddened by the tragedy both families have suffered here.”
A GoFundMe Has Been Organized For Dominguez Gonzalez
Dominguez Gonzalez didn’t have any family in the United States according to the Post. Someone named Yumeira Gonzalez has posted a GoFundMe page to raise money for her funeral.
“All of her family lives in Venezuela, I was able to make her part of my family,” Gonzalez wrote on the fundraising page. “She was someone very important to me, my family and the people around her. Any help for her memorial would be greatly appreciated.”
At the time of publishing, $9,162 of the $10,000 goal had been raised.
READ NEXT: FBI Fugitive Caught After Escaping Prison 46 Years Ago