On February 3, 2004, Dominguez was arrested by Benque Viejo del Carmen police and charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend, Heidi Itza, 19, a villager of Succotz, in Benque Viejo.
The facts of the incident, which were revealed in court by the prosecutor, Cheryl-Lynn Branker Taitt, are that Heidi?s boyfriend had traveled from Orange Walk to Benque Viejo to visit her. They went out to a ?cool spot.? He was drunk by this time.
The young couple, after a night of partying, then rented a room at Hotel Maya in Benque Viejo. The two were heard quarrelling, and an eyewitness recalled hearing her say she hated him… The following morning, Dominguez ran downstairs and told the owners of the hotel that ?someone had killed his girlfriend?? concluded, the prosecutor.
Heidi?s nude body was discovered at about 7:00 on the morning of Tuesday, February 3, one hour after she had been strangled to death in the hotel.
A forensic examiner had certified she died from asphyxia due to manual strangulation.
Her boyfriend at the time, Eleizer Dominguez, then 19, was accused of the crime.
Today, in front of Justice Michelle Arana, his attorney, Simeon Sampson, gave a mitigation plea on his behalf, telling the court that the prisoner had pleaded to a lesser charge of manslaughter, and his record shows no charges of violence.
According to Sampson, Dominguez?s Community Rehabilitation Officer, Marvin Moody, had stated in a letter regarding his evaluation of the prisoner at the time of the incident that, ?It?s obvious that Mr. Dominguez has some very deep-seated problems with the situation he now finds himself in. He appears to be in a mild form of depression. This was evident by the fact that he kept claiming that he loved the victim, Heidi Itza, almost breaking down in tears at some points during the interview??
In his statement to the police, Sampson said that Dominguez said in conclusion, ?I feel bad, I?ve lost my girlfriend to the stupidness of drinking??
In his interpretation [Sampson?s] of that statement, it is difficult to determine premeditation, because there seemed to have been an abandonment of love. He had traveled so far to be with her. However, he became drunk during the time. Given his age and the amount of alcohol he had drunk, indeed, it crippled his thinking, said Sampson.
In conclusion, he begged that Judge Arana not impose a sentence greater than 12 years, as in the case of the Hyde brothers, who were sentenced to 12 years for killing a man during a dispute over parking space.
Dominguez himself stood up in court from the dock he was sitting in and said, ? At the time of the accident, I was drunk and at the time I did not meant to hurt the young lady. I was so in love with her, that I denied it that night. I even visited her parents? house that night to ask permission to see her?? said Dominguez, his last words before Judge Arana passed her judgment.
She told the court that she had considered all that his attorney had said on his behalf, and considering the fact that he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, he had saved the court time.
It appears, however, that love and passion has resulted in death, and for that, you will spend time in prison for her death, said Justice Arana. You have spoken with remorse, but however, signs of violence found on the body of the deceased, as the post-mortem had certified, and with all that taken into consideration, I will not impose a life sentence, but will impose a sentence of 15 years imprisonment.
Dominguez sentence takes effect as of Wednesday, January 18.