Board Settles Suit Over 911 Call in Woman’s Slaying

Three children of a woman slain by her estranged husband--about 15 minutes after she made a 911 call for help--will receive a $450,000 settlement approved by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Maria Navarro was at her East Los Angeles home Aug. 27, 1989, when she received a call from her brother-in-law, saying that Raymond Navarro was headed to her home to kill her.

A lawsuit on behalf of her surviving children alleged that during a 911 call, a dispatcher told her to lock her doors, and call again if the husband showed up. Court documents said the husband broke into the house about 15 minutes after the 911 call and shot his wife and three other people to death. He is serving a life sentence at Salinas Valley State Prison.

Survivors filed two lawsuits alleging that domestic violence 911 calls were not given the same attention by the Sheriff’s Department as some other emergency calls. Those suits were dismissed in federal court, but a third suit prompted the settlement.

“It was decided to put an end to this case with a settlement,” said Roger Granbo of the county counsel’s office.

The attorney for the survivors, Marco Lopez, said that Maria Navarro’s three children, ages 15, 17 and 19, will receive enough money “to get their education and go on with their lives.”