Stratton Faxon Lawyer Calls Murder-Suicide a Preventable Tragedy

Joel T. Faxon, a lawyer representing the estate of Shengyl Rasim, has never witnessed such a preventable tragedy in his entire career as a lawyer.

When Selami Ozdemir was arrested on charges of beating and kicking his wife for the first time, he was ordered into a family violence education program. Four months later, when he was arrested a second time for a similar offense, Ozdemir posted bail, returned to his West Haven, Connecticut, home and killed his wife, and then himself. His first domestic violence class was still three weeks away.
Due to a backlog in the program for first-time domestic violence offenders, defendants such as Ozdemir can have their court-ordered counseling delayed indefinitely.

The report issued by the Ansonia-Milford state’s attorney’s office following a five-month investigation detailed a host of problems in the case. Ozdemir, 41, and his wife, Shengyl Rasim, 25, had two children, and his first arrest, in September 2009, included allegations that he knocked his wife against the crib where their 3-month-old slept. But none of the agencies involved alerted the Department of Children and Families after his first arrest; each appears to have assumed that someone else had, the report said. It recommended formalizing the procedures for notifying DCF in domestic violence cases that involve potential child endangerment.

Stratton Faxon represents the late Shengyl Rasim’s estate.

After his second arrest, on January 16, 2010, Ozdemir allegedly managed to get out of custody without putting up any money for his $25,000 bond or signing a contract or payment plan – allegations that the state Insurance Department is investigating. The report suggested reforms to the bail bond industry designed to keep agents from allowing people to “get out of jail free.”

The report also described the failure of 911 operators to relay key information to police who were at the family’s home minutes prior to the murder-suicide.

“This is probably the most preventable tragedy that I have ever witnessed in my career as a lawyer,” said Joel T. Faxon in a written statement. Stratton said the lawyers plan to file a federal civil rights complaint and ask the U.S. attorney to investigate whether there was evidence of racial bias in the department’s handling of the case. Rasim was from Turkey and didn’t speak English well. The state’s attorney’s report cites multiple instances in which language barriers presented problems, including during the 911 call shortly before Rasim was killed.

To learn more, visit http://www.strattonfaxon.com.

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Stratton Faxon is a Connecticut personal injury law firm specializing in medical malpractice, wrongful death, birth injury, truck accidents, and malpractice.

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