A man awaiting trial on rape charges who was released on bail due to coronavirus concerns allegedly killed his accuser after his release.
Ibrahim Bouaichi, 33, was accused by Karla Dominguez of raping her, and he was indicted in January on charges of rape, sodomy, strangulation, and abduction. But his trial was delayed, and Bouaichi was released in April on $25,000 bond after his lawyers cited concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post.
Police said on July 29, Bouaichi showed up at Dominguez’s Alexandria, Virginia, apartment and shot her dead.
Bouaichi was immediately considered a suspect, and federal marshals spotted him in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Wednesday morning and engaged in a pursuit that ended with Bouaichi crashing his car and allegedly shooting himself. He was reportedly in grave condition in a hospital on Thursday.
Bouaichi’s lawyers wrote in their petition for a bond in April that “social distancing and proper disinfecting measures are impossible while incarcerated. … Simply put, the risk of contracting Covid-19 in a jail is exceedingly obvious.” They also argued that they themselves were at risk of contracting the virus whenever they visited their client in jail.
His lawyers said in a statement they were “certainly saddened by the tragedy both families have suffered here,” adding they “were looking forward to trial. Unfortunately the pandemic continued the trial date by several months and we didn’t get the chance to put forth our case.”
A GoFundMe account has been created to raise money for Dominguez’s funeral arrangements, raising almost $5,000 in three days.
Posted by The Washington Examiner
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