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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, October 4, 2008 County to pay $1 million in slaying The parents of a Stanwood teen said that police failed to protect their daughter from her ex-boyfriend, who shot her and himself. By Diana Hefley Herald Writer STANWOOD -- Snohomish County earlier this week agreed to pay more than $1 million to the parents of a Stanwood High School student who was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend in 2004. Dayna Fure's parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging police failed to protect Fure, 18, from Mario Valentin, despite numerous warnings that he was a danger to their daughter. Valentin, 23, of Seattle, snuck into Fure's bedroom May 24, 2004, shot her and then turned the gun on himself. Prior to her death, Fure had obtained a protection order against Valentin. She asked for the order after Valentin engaged in an armed standoff with Stanwood police and Snohomish County sheriff's deputies. He came to Fure's work, sat in her car, held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot himself. He also threatened Fure after the standoff, according to court documents. The settlement was reached Monday, three weeks before the case was scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The details are still being worked out, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Michael Held said. The lawsuit claimed that Stanwood police -- who actually are sheriff's deputies -- downplayed the risk to Fure, who had broken off the two-year relationship a couple of months earlier. Officers failed to arrest Valentin even though they were aware that he stalked and threatened Fure and possessed a gun, according to court documents. The lawsuit also alleged police followed a policy that diminished the importance of domestic violence against women. Stanwood police officers didn't have the proper training or supervision to adequately address domestic violence crimes, according to the lawsuit. Snohomish County was named in the lawsuit along with the city of Stanwood and three police officers. Stanwood contracts for police services with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. Tom Davis, now undersheriff, was Stanwood police chief at the time of the murder. Court documents show that the sheriff's office in 2000 created two detective positions specifically to handle domestic violence cases. Three years earlier, a felony domestic violence unit was created in the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office. Deputy prosecutors with the unit, along with domestic violence advocates put on training seminars for deputies in 1997. The training for deputies was outdated and didn't include deputies working in Stanwood, said Seattle attorney Andrea Brenneke, who represents Fure's parents. The office also lacked any written policies and procedures about domestic violence enforcement, she said. Rick Bart, then sheriff, was questioned as part of the lawsuit, and said the office had a policy in place that required deputies to follow the Domestic Violence Protection Act. But, he said, the policy should have been more up to date. "I think that's where we fell down," Bart said. "There are things we should have had in there." While there may not have been a specific written domestic violence policy, that doesn't mean domestic violence laws went unenforced or victims unprotected, Held said. He and Brenneke declined to discuss the exact amount the county has agreed to pay or any additional details about the settlement. Those details, they said, haven't been finalized. The county has agreed to increase domestic violence training for deputies as part of the settlement. Fure's parents plan to direct some of the money to domestic violence causes, Brenneke said. "They want to prevent what happened to Dayna from happening to anyone else," she said. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Remembering Dayna Just thinking about her brings a smile to my face, which quickly fads to sadness when I remember what happened to her. I knew her from when she was a little girl. She was such a precious kind sole, and a joy to talk to. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. I was privileged to be for a couple for years, her school bus driver. When the middle school kids would act up, she would tell them to knock it off and stop being mean, that I was the “cool bus driver”. She was always so happy and bubbly, fun and respectful of others. When I was working at the Stanwood Athletic Club, she would stop by and say hi on her way to karate class. She was truly a flower plucked from this earth way too soon by a selfish man! How selfish of Mario… If he wanted to die that’s his choice, but to take her with him is so selfish. The mentality of “if I can’t have you no one can” has to stop. Yes, the police should have taken the threats more seriously. Because of what happened to Dayna, hopefully now they are getting the proper training to deal with these types of situations so no other family will have to go thru what Dayna’s has had to endure. My thoughts and prayers go out to Dayna’s family and friends. Debbie Jones | Oct 4, 2008 8:48 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal stanwood police Ya the stanwood police are a joke.They let teenagers drink and do drugs and party and when parents call they blame them.Maybe when a few more kids die they will get a clue but I doubt it. gene carpenter | Oct 4, 2008 9:57 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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