A Criminal in San Marin

A young woman who worked at Bath & Body Works at Vintage Oaks told me last fall that she would often see me taking my daily walk around our San Marin neighborhood. A single mom, she lived in a small condo cluster on San Andreas with her young daughter. She told me she was going to leave retail and start a career in nursing, becoming a caretaker for her grandfather who was ill.

I am pretty sure she told me he was a retired law enforcement officer, which turns out to be ironic.

I remember thinking she was very young to have a child, and that she seemed very personable and sweet, perfect for nursing.

During the Christmas holidays, I saw her once with a child in a stroller being pushed by a young man with a hoodie. She seemed very distracted and didn’t notice me as they headed toward San Marin Plaza. I presumed the guy was the father of the child and I was glad to see all three together.

I didn’t think about it again until I saw her mug shot staring at me from the newsstand a week or so later. Just 22 years old, this young woman was now arrested in connection with a gang-related shooting of two young men at the Safeway at Hamilton Marketplace. She’s been in jail ever since.

In May, a male youth was arrested and both face attempted murder charges. The third suspect, Armando Gil, was arrested in February on unrelated charges and now will also be charged with attempted murder.

It appears this is not Gil’s first rodeo, with all sorts of prior felony warrants – rape, sex with a minor – a real peach of a guy. Attempted murder doesn’t seem much of a stretch for him.

But what of this young woman? What led her to get involved with such a loser? What of her goals to better herself and raise her daughter? My heart breaks at the thought of that young child.

Law enforcement professionals are used to dealing with the underbelly, even in a relatively safe town such as Novato.  They are used to circumstances where someone who doesn’t fit the mold somehow slithers in. As a mother of three children near her age, I want to make excuses for her, make her a clueless victim in a senseless crime scheme. But of course, I can’t.

Naturally, the real victim is her child. In many ways, the attempted murder is against that little girl. She will bear deep scars and deep pain. While once mommy was bringing her a pretty scented soap from work, now she is psychologically stained and soiled.

I pray that she will grow up strong and triumph over this loathsome situation.

I pray that all of us in Novato will continue to be strong when it comes to deterring crime in our neighborhoods. Times are tough now; Novatoans are tougher. We are an amazing community and I feel, to a one, are committed to our children and their future.