Local attorney weighs in after two domestic murder-suicides occur in one week

Two murder suicides have happened in Massachusetts in less than one week, both were cases of domestic violence.

At a home on North Main St. in Brockton on Wednesday, the Plymouth County District Attorney said 18-year-old Yoraily Santos was found dead on the floor with multiple gunshot wounds.

The suspect, 22-year-old Starli Roa Tavares, was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and a gun was located nearby.

Boston 25 News spoke to the landlord of the home where the crime occurred.

“I mean it’s my first time seeing a crime like that,” said landlord Raul Peres.

Last Friday, a couple was killed in a murder-suicide in Milton.

“I wish I could say I’m shocked, but I’m not,” attorney Wendy Murphy said.

Murphy advocates for women who are victims of domestic violence and said Massachusetts is moving in a dangerous direction in terms of crimes committed by men against women.

“So just last year alone, we had over 20 cases of men killing women, we also know that compared to the year before that is an almost 50 percent increase,” Murphy explained.

She also said that often times in domestic violence cases, actions come too late for a variety of reasons.

“If you want to make a difference, if you want to use the legal system to stop a man from abusing a woman and eventually killing her, as happens in too many cases, you actually have to do something meaningful when the violence isn’t yet fatal,” Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Peres said he never heard or saw the couple arguing and had not seen Santos around in a couple of weeks.

“I still can’t believe this happened in my house and then all my family be like sad, I’m sad too, I’m sad for the family too, for what happened,” Peres said.

Murphy said some of the reforms she would like to see are for certain prosecutors not to allow women the option of whether or not to drop charges against the abuser.

She said the same goes for some prosecutors, allowing victims the option to testify or not.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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