Rodrigo Bravo, on the left, and Eleni Tavau, on the right. (Monterey County Jail; Selfie via Facebook)
A California mother of three was stabbed to death in front of her children by a man with a history of domestic violence who had an active restraining order against him, according to police in the Golden State.
Rodrigo Bravo, 32, was arrested on one count each of murder, child endangerment, a probation violation, and violating a restraining order, according to a press release issued by the Salinas Police Department.
Salinas is the county seat of Monterey County in northern California.
Late Sunday afternoon, SPD officers arrived at a residence on Natividad Road in the neighborhood of the same name. The victim, Eleni Tavau, 30, was found stabbed multiple times. Police said her “two toddler-aged children were present when officers arrived.”
Responding officers performed CPR on the dying woman before “she was transported in grave condition to a local hospital, where she died of her injuries,” the police department said.
A resulting investigation determined that Tavau had an active restraining order against Bravo, the father of her young children, San Francisco-based MyNetworkTV affiliate KRON reported.
A GoFundMe by the victim’s family aims to return the deceased woman’s body to her ancestral home.
“My sister Eleni Tavau was stabbed to death by her kids father,” Alex Carr, the deceased woman’s younger brother, wrote. “She left behind three beautiful children. Our goal is to give her a proper burial back home in Samoa. Any donations would help out a lot.”
By 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, the defendant had turned himself in to police – after reportedly first showing up at the county jail.
“When the man walked into the jail lobby, he spoke with a staff member working the front desk,” a spokesperson with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office told local CBS/Fox/Telemundo affiliate KION. “There is conflicting information about what was said in that conversation. There is also conflicting information about his physical appearance and demeanor while in the lobby. After several minutes, he walked out of the facility.”
The defendant appeared in court on Wednesday, the TV station later reported.
During his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to six felony counts including one count of murder in the second degree, two counts of causing great bodily harm to a child, and one count of violating court-ordered domestic violence restraining order, assault likely to cause great bodily injury, and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant.
Court documents obtained by KION allege that Bravo used a knife to kill the mother of his two children. The defendant was previously convicted of injuring Tavau, and of violating a court order within the last year, those documents reportedly say.
The active restraining order against Bravo was issued in November 2021.
“It was a domestic violence restraining order so that when that occurs, they’ve been convicted of a domestic violence crime, and that’s the only way to get a domestic violence restraining order,” SPD Public Information Officer Brian Johnson told KION.
Police said the toddlers who witnessed the killing of their mother were a 2-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl.
“We were on the phone, she was telling me how she was just done with him,” Carr told KION. “She was telling me how she wanted to move out here to Reno, Nevada, and be with me, bring her kids out here.”
Bravo’s bail was set at just over $1 million. The defendant is scheduled back in court on July 26.
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