NOW Vigil Will Honor Slain Women
Valley members of the National Organization for Women will hold a vigil Saturday to honor Doris Carasi and Sonia Salinas, the two women slain in the Universal CityWalk parking structure last year after their Mother’s Day dinner.
Charged in connection with the incident are Paul Carasi, 31, the son of one of the women and ex-boyfriend of the other, and Donna Kay Lee, 45, his girlfriend at the time of the slayings. Both are charged with murder and the special circumstances of multiple killing and lying in wait, making them eligible for the death penalty.
The slayings are a brutal symbol of the severity of violence against women in the United States, said Jan B. Tucker of the San Fernando Valley-Northeast Los Angeles chapter of NOW. “To be murdered on Mother’s Day--when we’re supposed to honor women, it’s the epitome of insanity.”
Prosecutors allege that on May 14, Carasi and Lee ambushed and fatally stabbed Doris Carasi and Salinas in a CityWalk parking lot while Salinas’ 2-year-old son, fathered by Carasi, sat in a nearby car.
The vigil is also intended to shed light on sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the entertainment industry, Tucker said.
The event, sponsored by the women’s-rights group, will begin at 11 a.m. at the Universal City marquee on Lankershim Boulevard.
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