Tool helps Lynn police ID domestic abusers

LYNN – Nearly a year ago, Raymond Echavarria passed the point of no return. Filled with rage, he pulled his young girlfriend, Xiomara Robles, into the elevator of a Market Street commercial building where she worked as a secretary and set it afire with gasoline. The explosion killed them both. Fortunately, the mother was able to push her 5-year-old son to safety seconds before the elevator doors closed.The March 14 murder-suicide stunned the community at large, though those who knew the estranged couple were aware of their tumultuous relationship with its propensity for violence and history of abuse. Robles lived in fear until the situation reached its savage conclusion.The tragedy led to plenty of discussion among law enforcement officers, court officials and advocates who deal daily with the victims of domestic abuse. The driving question: Could the young woman’s death have been prevented?The result was the formation of the High Risk Team, comprised of the Lynn Police Domestic Violence Unit, Lynn District Court’s Probation Services Department, Neighborhood Legal Services, the Eliot Community Batterers Intervention Program, and representatives from Help for Abused Women and their Children (HAWC), a North Shore emergency shelter and counseling service for victims of domestic violence.”The relationship had a history of abuse. Immediately thereafter, HAWC provided crisis intervention through hospital services and legal support for the child and family,” said HAWC spokesman Alicia Black. “Through this experience, members of the community realized that commonalities existed in other high-risk domestic violence cases and together they could more proactively improve the quality of life for victims of potentially lethal relationships and put more responsibility on the offender.”The High Risk Team created laminated, wallet-size cards that HAWC members distributed last month to Lynn police during roll calls. The cards, which list 12 domestic violence high-risk behaviors, provide police officers with a ready reference tool when responding to a domestic violence incident.”Officers responding to a domestic violence incident can quickly reference the high risk indicators cards, identify behaviors and include these indicators in the police report,” said Black, noting that high-risk indicators include non-fatal strangulation, perpetrator threats of homicide or suicide, and access to weapons.Black explained that a critical step in identifying these volatile cases is the ability to communicate information quickly, in order to provide fast and appropriate services and protection to victims, and to apply accountability measures to the offenders.In the Echavarria case, two months before the murder-suicide, Robles told a judge how her boyfriend held her against her will and warned he had no reason to live because their six-year relationship was over. Echavarria, 23, had pulled the woman into his car and threatened her with a knife as he drove repeatedly along Route 1 between Peabody and Saugus for 90 terrifying minutes. Although Echavarria was arrested and charged with kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, he was released a few days later on $1,500 cash bail. At the time, Robles, 21, and a mother of two, told prosecutors she did not consider Echavarria a threat.Essex County Assistant District Attorney Meghan Taylor had pointed out to District Court Judge Michael Lauranzano that the breakup is “the most dangerous time for a relationship” and asked that the suspect’s bail be set at $7,500. Lauranzano set bail at $1,500 and shortly thereafter Echavarria was free. In the days following the court hearing, Robles withdrew the court restraining order against Echavarria.The boarded up storefronts at 150 Market St. bore testament to the ongoing problem of domestic violence, as did the candlelight vigils. The crime left many sympathizers in the community feeling helpless and set the stage for anti-abuse initiatives. By creating the lam