Parents of slain Stanwood teen donate $100,000 to domestic violence prevention

The parents of an 18-year-old Stanwood girl who was killed in 2004 by an ex-boyfriend who had stalked her with a gun will contribute $100,000 to domestic violence prevention from a $1.75 million settlement with Snohomish County.

Dayna Fure's parents sued Snohomish County, Stanwood police and three officers after they discovered that police had failed to protect their daughter from 23-year-old Mario Valentin even after Fure had received a restraining order against him and reported Valentin's threats.

Fure's mother, Melody Hafner-Cottrell, announced today that she would be making an $80,000 gift to the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a $20,000 donation to Waterfund International in Kirkland for medical relief.

In the lawsuit, Fure's parents claimed law enforcement officers did not take reasonable or legally mandated steps to protect Fure.

They claimed officers downplayed or ignored the threats against Fure when they should have arrested Valentin and that they, in fact, took actions that increased the threat to Fure. The lawsuit claimed, for example, that officers encouraged Fure to speak face to face with Valentin about reconciliation.

Valentin killed himself after killing Fure on May 24, shortly after she ended their two-year relationship.