1 week Ago By Richard Bammer
Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams, referring to National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, said the time had come to “shine the light” on lives affected by crime locally and across the nation. Speaking Wednesday in front of courthouse steps at 600 Union Ave. in Fairfield, Abrams, the county’s chief law enforcement officer, said, “We stand together to uplift victims’ voices, ensure their voices are heard, and focus on their rights as they navigate the unwanted journey through the criminal justice system.
” As she spoke to a noontime crowd of DA’s Office employees, victim advocates and others, she was joined by several other major Solano County law enforcement officers, including Vacaville Police Chief Chris Polen and Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara, on a sunny, cloudless day to pause and reflect on the significance of the nationally observed week, which ends Saturday. A longtime fierce advocate for crime victims, Abrams, standing at a lectern and reading from a prepared statement, lamented that statewide “criminal justice reform,” while trending to reduce punishment for offenders, has left out crime victims “in this conversation.” “Where is their voice?” she asked, her voice rising.
“We have seen one law after another passed in California continuing to lessen offender accountability. While each of these laws continues to chip away at offender accountability, they are, at the same time, chipping away at the rights and safety of crime victims.” She cited the 2008 Victims Bill of Rights, aka Marsy’s Law, and enumerated some of those rights, among them being treated with fairness, dignity and respect, being free from harassment, being protected from the defendant, the right to know the conviction, sentence, place of incarceration, and release date of the offender.
“And most importantly, the right to be heard at any proceeding,” said Abrams. “We cannot let these rights be trampled upon.” She asked those in attendance to consider what it means for an individual victim’s “worst day” and of all the people “who have the power to touch the life” of that person, from the dispatcher taking the 911 call and the patrol officer responding to the scene to the prosecutor assigned to the case and the judge to the probation officer and the parole board.
“How did we treat that victim who may have suffered great trauma and still has fear, stress, anger or grief?” asked Abrams. “Did we meet them where they were at? Did we show compassion and empathy? Did we listen and not judge? Remember that we all play a part in their healing process.” Of the week’s 2025 theme, “Connecting, Healing and Kinship,” she said the DA’s Office and its prosecutors, victim advocates and law enforcement officers are by their work’s shared nature “interconnected.
” Citing the De Anna Lynn Johnson case, which, after 42 years, resulted in a conviction last month, Abrams said it exemplifies the perseverance of Vacaville police officers who “never wavered in their commitment” to obtain justice for the deceased 14-year-old girl. She also cited the Christina “Tina” Baxley case, the mother of two boys who was walking her dog on her lunch break in 2007 and was gunned down in front of her apartment in Dixon. The defendant, she added, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013, sentenced to 25 years to life, but a recent parole hearing found him suitable for release.
Abrams expressed outrage at the parole board’s decision, then added, “It is cases like these that shed light on the fact that the journey is never over for crime victims and the fight must always continue.” Afterward, crime victim and survivor Gabriela Mireles shared her story of “surviving and healing.” “My story begins in a space where love was confused with control, where safety was shattered by the very hands that were supposed to protect me,” she said, also reading from prepared remarks.
“I was only 14 when I met him. Too young to truly understand love, but old enough to believe in it.” She continued, “At first, it was the little things — controlling what I wore, where I went, who I talked to.
I was so young, and I thought it was charming that he was jealous. I mistook possessiveness for passion. Now, I know better.
I know that kind of jealousy is a red flag, not a sign of love.” The abuse, Mireles noted, wasn’t just physical. It also was emotional, mental and spiritual.
They had three children together, and she waited until they were older, when she made a decision to leave the relationship after 18 years “of carrying pain in silence.” In June 2022, however, Mireles said she “found” VEST (Victims Empowerment Support Team), which provides resources and support to all victims of domestic violence at the Solano Family Justice Center in Fairfield. “It gave me kinship,” she said.
“It reminded me I wasn’t alone, that there was no shame in survival. With the help of community, support, and a sense of belonging, I started to find myself again.” She thanked the DA’s Office for support, then added, “Together, we can build a stronger, safer Solano County, one where survivors can continue to connect, heal, and reclaim their lives.
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