Family of murdered teen sues county

By KATU News and KATU.com Staff Published: Aug 16, 2009 at 12:09 PM PST Last Updated: Aug 17, 2009 at 11:39 AM PST
Dani Countryman
Dani Countryman died in 2007 at a party in Clackamas County. Now her family is suing the county for not deporting the person convicted of her death.

CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. -- The family of 15-year-old murder victim Dani Countryman is suing Clackamas County.

According to public records, the suit alleges authorities knew Countryman's killer was in the country illegally but failed to report him. Indeed, in November 2006 the person who plead guilty to Countryman's murder was convicted in Clackamas County of driving drunk.

The suit asks for $3.5 million for the death of the 15-year-old from Texas. She was killed during a sexual assault at a party in Milwaukie, Ore., in 2007. Countryman was in Oregon to visit her sister in Oregon City.

Two years later, Alejandro Rivera Gamboa has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder in a plea deal July 2009. The judge sentenced him to life in prison, of which -- according to the plea deal -- Gamboa will have to serve 35 years.

His cousin, Gilberto Arellano Gamboa, reportedly will serve nearly six years in jail for attempted sexual abuse.

Both men have admitted crossing into the U.S. illegally from Mexico. Both men will be deported after they serve their sentences.

A third party in the case, Shon Jerrod Estes, had charges of sexual abuse and attempted rape dropped in a plea deal in Clackamas County Circuit Court. Estes was sentenced to 45 days in jail followed by 24 months of probation.

This case reportedly prompted Clackamas County to define its policy on the handling of immigrant criminal cases. Two months after Countryman's death, Clackamas County authorities clarified county law giving police and prosecutors the ability to report non-documented individuals to immigration officials after they have been arrested on other charges.

 

 

 

Note: Through this link you can follow KATU.com's reporting on the case of Dani Countryman. KATU.com's reporting goes back to July 2007, when police first deemed Countryman's death in a Milwaukie apartment as a homicide.