Police dispatcher murdered in Los Angeles

[Guest guest]

Yesterday, Damaris " Didi " Quiles, 35, a police dispatcher with the Los

Angeles City General Services Police was murdered by her estranged

husband.

The man fatally stabbed Quiles and her mother during an argument,

then drove to a bridge and jumped to his death Thursday before a

police officer could stop him, police said.

After the stabbing, police locked down a nearby elementary school,

fearing the man may try to come for their 6-year-old son. Police took

the boy off campus, LAPD Lt. Ted s said.

The man apparently never went to the school, s said. The man

was identified as Walter , 38, LAPD Detective Pat Barron said.

Earlier in the morning, had gone to a home in Tujunga,

northeast of downtown Los Angeles, and confronted his girlfriend,

Barron said. His girlfriend had a restraining order against him.

The woman's mother heard the argument and came outside to intervene.

became angry, stabbed the girlfriend with a knife and then

stabbed her mother, Carmen Quiles, 73.

Her mother died at the scene and his girlfriend died later at a

hospital, Barron said.

The man drove east to Pasadena, where he jumped from the Colorado

Street Bridge, s said.

A caller reported that a man had climbed over a fence along the

bridge and was on the outside railing, said Pasadena police

spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens.

" The officer got there within a minute. The subject jumped before the

officer had time to negotiate with him, " she said.

The 150-foot-high bridge, built in 1913, is a historic landmark known

locally as " suicide bridge " because dozens of people jumped from it

over the years. The bridge spans the Arroyo Seco south of the Rose

Bowl.

Damaris Quiles' brother, Edwin, said his sister and had lived

together for several years. Their relationship had been strained in

the past, but he did not think his sister was at risk, he said.

" We knew something was going on, but we didn't think this would

occur, " Quiles said.

Quiles was a Communication Operator III for the General Services

Police in Los Angeles, (an agency separate from LAPD) which provides

law enforcement services for city buildings, parks, libraries, the Zoo,

Convention Center, and other municipal facilities.

Quiles was with the department for over 2 years.

More at

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tujunga11jan11,1,6024762.story

Harry