Rape Suspect Allegedly Murders Accuser After Being Released from Jail Due to COVID
An alleged rapist who was let out of jail early amid fears he might contract the coronavirus while behind bars is accused of murdering his victim last week in Virginia.
Ibrahm E. Bouaichi was released from jail in Alexandria, where he was being held on charges of rape, sodomy, strangulation and kidnapping, The Washington Post reported.
Bouaichi, 33, had been ordered to be held in jail without bond after allegedly committing the crimes against Karla DominguezDominguez in October 2019.
His attorneys argued that the coronavirus posed a danger to both him and them and that he should be granted bond.
When asking for bond, the attorneys claimed that “social distancing and proper disinfecting measures are impossible while incarcerated,” The Post reported.
They further argued that “the risk of contracting Covid-19 in a jail is exceedingly obvious.”
Ignoring a protest from the prosecution, Circuit Court Judge Nolan Dawkins ruled that Bouaichi could be freed on $25,000 bond.
He left the jail April 9.
Part of the condition of his release was that he remain under house arrest at his residence in Maryland, which he could only leave in order to meet with his legal team about the rape accusation.
But according to police in Alexandria, Bouaichi did not stay isolated in his home.
They say he instead returned to Dominguez’s home on July 29 and shot and killed her.
Released from jail at height of pandemic, rape suspect allegedly killed his accuser https://t.co/uQtJt1FZQz
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 7, 2020
Police issued a bulletin for the public to be on the lookout for the alleged killer.
“On July 29, 2020, at 6:20 a.m., the Alexandria Police Department responded to a call regarding shots fired on S. Greenmount Drive. Officers found a deceased woman with gunshot wounds on her upper body, who was later identified as Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez,” the department wrote.
“Anyone with information regarding Bouaichi’s whereabouts is asked to call the Alexandria Police Department immediately,” it added, describing Bouaichi as “armed and dangerous” and saying he posed a “potential threat to anyone who comes into contact with him.”
Bouaichi was spotted by police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on Wednesday.
A chase ensued and resulted in the suspect crashing his vehicle and being apprehended, The Post reported.
“Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi, who was wanted for the July 29 murder of Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez, has been taken into custody,” Alexandria police announced in a news release.
The news release added, “Officers approaching the vehicle found Bouaichi with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment.”
Judge Dawkins, who retired in June, did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Bouaichi is not the first alleged criminal to be let out of jail amid fears about the coronavirus, only to allegedly commit a murder after being freed.
In April, Joseph Edward Williams was released from a jail in Tampa, Florida, where he was being held for allegedly possessing four grams of heroin, which is a felony.
Police said that after being released in order to reduce inmate populations to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Williams shot and killed a man, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
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