According to the Seattle Times, Snohomish County in the state of Washington settled a domestic violence case for over $1 million. The County reached a settlement in late September 2008 with the parents of an 18-year-old woman, Dayna Futre, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Mainor Valentin, in 2004 after she reported threats to the Stanwood Police Department. The parents sued the county in 2006, alleging that the police failed to protect their daughter. The lawsuit revealed that the County had no domestic violence enforcement mechanisms in place until 2007. Moreover, the local police did not arrest Valentin after receiving the call from Fure, as required by Washington state domestic violence law. Instead, the police came after Valentin got into Fure’s car with a gun. Valentin went to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, but was never charged with a crime. The police officer at the scene did not report the incident until after Fure was killed.
The case was set to go to trial in U.S. District Court in October.
Cited in: Carter, Mike, Snohomish County to pay $1M in lawsuit over domestic-violence slaying, in Seattle Times (2 October 2008).