Karina Gonzalez, a mother of two, mustered all her strength to finally leave her husband just weeks ago after decades of alleged abuse, said Alicia Acevedo, a mental health advocate who recently met her and helped the mother.
But on Sunday, Gonzalez returned to the family home in Little Village with her children, Acevedo said. And on Monday, his worst fears came true. Shortly after midnight, her husband allegedly shot dead Gonzalez, who had just turned 48, and their 15-year-old daughter Daniela Alvarez. He also injured his son, Emmanuel Alvarez, 18, authorities said.
Jose Alvarez, 67, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery by firing a gun. Alvarez was arrested after his son called police and said his father had just shot him, according to a police report.
Responding officers found Alvarez standing in the living room of the family home at the 2600 block of South Millard Avenue and told police he was “defending himself,” according to the report. Officers then found the “lifeless and bloody” bodies of Alvarez’s wife and 15-year-old daughter on the ground with gunshot wounds, according to the report.
Her daughter Daniela was shot in the face and her mother suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, authorities said.
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Emmanuel is the only survivor after running out of the apartment as his father chased him, said Dolores Castañeda, a Little Village activist who is in contact with the family. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition but has a leg injury and limited mobility, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his family to raise money for funeral costs and mental health services. Immanuel.
Acevedo said the murders were sparked by an argument, but the family had endured domestic abuse for more than a decade. Last weekend, Gonzalez attended a spiritual retreat where Gonzalez told her that she and her family lived under constant threats, with Alvarez even sleeping with the gun next to him.
The mother was broken and felt helpless, Acevedo recalls.
“Unfortunately, like most women in our communities who have abusive partners, she hasn’t found a way to break the cycle,” Acevedo said Wednesday as he gazed at the makeshift memorial she helped erect. “We are devastated, but we will now be Karina’s voice and we will do our best to raise awareness and inspire other women to seek help.”
Acevedo, a mental health advocate, has worked independently through a group she calls Almas Nuevas, recruiting women with mental health, addiction and domestic violence issues in Latin American communities to create a network to empower each other. Gonzalez’s best friend connected the two and they had just begun the process to cheer Gonzalez up, Acevedo said. The women’s group worked to find support and resources for the mother.
The children and the mother suffered from deep depression and mental health issues, said Acevedo, who referred Gonzalez to Mujeres Latinas en Acción, a nonprofit organization that provides support for victims of domestic violence in the Chicago area. .
“She had taken the first step and he took everything away from her. I don’t know why she came back,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said the tragic end of the family happens all too often with black and brown families experiencing domestic violence. According to Esperanza United, an organization that aims to mobilize the community to end gender-based violence, one in three Latinas will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
But few women are speaking out, Acevedo said.
Several barriers put women of color at greater risk and make it harder for them to leave their abusive partner, including immigration status, financial hardship, lack of support, or even just lack of information about how and where to find support in Spanish.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past two years the city has seen an increase in domestic violence. In 2021, calls to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline increased 9% from 2020, and domestic violence-related shootings increased 64% in Chicago in 2021, according to a 2022 report from The Network, a domestic violence prevention research and advocacy organization.
Castañeda, a longtime resident of the Little Village neighborhood, said domestic violence has been largely normalized in the Latino community, often masking it with ingrained traditions and societal norms.
“It’s painful to see how families suffer in silence,” Castañeda said.
The eldest son, who watched his father kill his mother, is carrying “the worst pain of all”, she said. He’s traumatized, trying to find a way to carry on, she said. Castaneda said she was in contact with the family, who are raising money to bury Gonzalez and her daughter.
Alvarez appeared in court on Wednesday for a hearing in which a Cook County judge ordered him held without bond until a bail hearing on Thursday. A public defender said Alvarez had “health issues” and asked the judge to allow him medical treatment, which he was granted.
Acevedo urges the community to intervene for those they see experiencing domestic violence in silence. She plans to honor Gonzalez’s name by helping other women.
“Que su muerte no sea en vano,” she said. “That their death is not in vain.
She will remember the two, smiling behind their pain and singing as they did at her birthday celebration on Saturday night, just days before they died.
The group of women who spent the past weekend with Gonzalez will gather outside her home Thursday night to hold a vigil for mother and daughter.
Madeline Buckley of the Chicago Tribune contributed.
Larodriguez@chicagotribune.com