We've reported on killer dad MIGUEL MAJIA-RAMOS. Now we find out how the police failed the mother--not to mention the US's oppressive immigration policies that discourage women from reporting domestic violence.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2561242/My-sister-alive-theyd-job-NYPD-failed-translate-moms-warning-ahead-fatal-stabbing-two-young-daughters.html
'My sister might still be alive if they'd done their job': NYPD failed to translate mom's warning in Spanish ahead of fatal stabbing of her and her two young daughters
Deisy Garcia, 21, and her daughters, aged one and two, were found dead in their Queens, New York, home in January
Husband Miguel Mejia-Ramos, 29, was caught by police as he tried to flee to Mexico
He told prosecutors that he found a photo of Garcia with another man that sent him into a rage
Now it has emerged that Garcia had reported her fears about her husband's temper to police last May
The report was compiled in Garcia's native Spanish and was only translated to English after her tragic death
Her husband told prosecutors he'd only killed his children when he realized he didn't have car seats to take them with him
By David Mccormack
PUBLISHED: 07:56 EST, 17 February 2014 | UPDATED: 08:03 EST, 17 February 2014
A New York woman brutally stabbed to death last month along with her two young daughters had warned police months before that she feared for their safety, but her warning went unheeded - because it was in Spanish and never translated.
Deisy Garcia, an immigrant from Guatemala, filled out the state-mandated domestic-incident report in her native language after calling officers to her Jamaica apartment on May 30 to say her husband, Miguel Mejia-Ramos, 29, had assaulted her, according to police sources.
In the report, Garcia, 21, wrote that she was afraid Mejia-Ramos, 29, was going to kill her as well as their kids because she loved them so much.
She called 911 on Mejia-Ramos again on November 28 and filed a second report, although she didn’t repeat her concerns about being killed.
Neither report was translated into English by either the patrol officers or the Domestic Violence Unit, until after Garcia and her daughters - Daniela, 2, and Yoselin, 1 - were fatally stabbed on January 18, reports the New York Post.
The victim’s family have hit out at the NYPD over their lax approach to processing Deisy Garcia’s complaint.
‘My sister and her kids might still be alive if they had done their jobs,’ said Garcia’s brother José Garcia, 19.
Husband Miguel Mejia-Ramos was captured at a vehicle roadblock in Schulenburg, Texas, as he was attempting to flee to Mexico
‘When someone comes to them with a problem but only speaks Spanish, find someone who speaks Spanish.’
‘I’m in so much pain,’ mom, Luzmina Alvarado told the Post.
‘I know she contacted them and told them he kicked her and abused her, but the police told her they needed to see proof of the abuse.
‘I told the cops, "Now that my daughter is dead, you’re hunting for this man like dogs, but if you did more earlier - if you had listened to my daughter - she might be alive today.'"
In the wake of the tragedy, NYPD has said it is carrying out a review of procedure and officers have been reminded that reports made in other languages must also be translated into English.
The NYPD is also considering using computer software to automatically translate the reports.
Miguel Mejia-Ramos told New York City prosecutors that was rifling through his wife's phone and Facebook page on Sunday night and snapped when he saw an image of her with another man
Mejia-Ramos was placed on suicide watch after being arraigned late last month. Prosecutors say he told investigators he killed his children because he didn't have car seats to take them on the lam.
An illegal immigrant, he was arrested in Texas en route to Mexico after authorities tracked his cellphone.
Authorities say detectives recovered five knives with what appeared to be blood on them.
The suspect told police he tried to kill himself after slaying his family 'but couldn't do it.'
After his arrest, Miguel Mejia-Ramos told New York City prosecutors that was rifling through his wife's phone and Facebook page and snapped when he saw an image of her with another man.
He then grabbed a knife and stabbed 21-year-old Deisy Garcia, before hugging and kissing his two young daughters - two-year-old Daniela and one-year-old Yoselin - before brutally killing them too.
Mejia-Ramos faces first-degree murder charges.
The victims were found dead in their apartment after friends noticed they hadn't attended church.
Garcia's uncle stumbled upon the gruesome scene. All three had suffered multiple stab wounds and sources said that two bloody knives were left in the two rooms where the bodies were found.
A friend, Diana Villa, told the New York Post that Garcia had been petrified of Ramos and had even asked their local pastor for help - but that she was scared of calling police because she was an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
Villa said she had witnessed a violent fight between the couple at a recent baby shower after Ramos blamed her for having no beer at the party, which was at the church.
Police officers had visited the residence for domestic violence complaints against Ramos last November and May, but he was not arrested on either occasion.
Garcia’s uncle Ramon Chuc, 37, recalled discovering the bodies with his two sons, ages 12 and 10, after they returned to the home after playing football outside.
'My 12-year-old son, Rene, went inside the room and saw my niece on the floor,' Chuc sobbed. 'After that, I... saw the two babies are covered with a blanket. I take it off and see them.'
All three were pronounced dead at the scene with stab wounds to the chest.
The apartment, which is above a drug store, was cordoned off by police.
‘She was a quiet but happy person. She always had a smile on her face. She was a good mom,’ Mario Sanchez, 16, told the Daily News.