31st & King St Murder

(Community Matters) A neighbor sent a report on Monday’s community meeting for Heritage and NUNA about the murder:

Dear Neighbors:

The community meeting at First English on Monday had at least 250 people in attendance. It was a packed, standing room only gathering in the church cafeteria. NUNA was invited by Heritage NA to attend and participate in
that meeting.

What follows is a short timeline of the attacks. As you can see, the suspect has spent considerable time in our North University area days before and hours after the murder. Victim #1 thinks the attacker visited her as a door to door salesman, so those deserve a 911 call without
hesitation.

Christmas Day 5 p.m. – 300 Block of East 31st St. Victim 1’s apartment – Indecent exposure by suspect matching description of man involved in NYE
attack. – THIS WAS IN NUNA
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/video/Victim-Says-Flasher%2C-Serial-Attacker-Is-Same-Man20120105-ktbcw

New Years Eve – 29th Street Ballroom at Spider House – Esme Barrerra, victim #3 is last seen alive, telling friends she will walk home. – THIS WAS IN NUNA

New Years Eve 2:18 A.M. – 3100 Block of King Street – Victim #2 assaulted in front of Esme Barrera’s home after being followed by a man matching the suspect in victim #1’s description. – THIS WAS IN HERITAGE
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/investigations/no-report-taken-in-attack-before-murder

New Years Eve 2:46 A.M. – 3100 Block of King Street – Esme Barrerra murdered, victim #3 is found injured in her home and dies of her injuries. – THIS WAS IN HERITAGE

New Years Day 5 A.M. – 300 Block of East 31st St. – Suspect returns to Victim 1’s apartment strangling her to the point of unconsciousness. – THIS
WAS IN NUNA

Students are returning this week and classes are starting next. It is really important that everything be done that can be done to inform and prepare them for this threat. If you are a landlord to a returning
student, or teach a class, please initiate that conversation. Heritage has already done a remarkable job in mobilizing and informing their students and multi-family communities.

Below is a response from Mary Ceallaigh on the Hyde Park list that some of you may not have seen. It was the reply to Debi’s cross-posted e-mail, forwarded with the author’s permission. It is a very detailed account of the community meeting.

# # #

Hi All,

I attended the neighborhood meeting at First English Lutheran church last night, with a friend who from the Mueller neighborhood. I joined this group when I returned home (to the area of Hyde Park just north of Flight Path coffeehouse).

The meeting was packed, about 150 people, including about a dozen elders and many of Esme Barrera’s friends and colleagues. The emphasis really
came down to the importance of understanding that this is a citywide as well as neighborhood situation. That along with the efforts of the APD detective team and routine APD patrolling, we need ongoing citywide neighborhood organizing, volunteer policing, and activism at City Council to increase the APD’s staff to citizen ratio in line with other cities.

The organizer of the Heritage Neighborhood group, who has raised 3 children as a single mother there, started off the evening with her own spontaneous welcome and heartfelt concern, to the audience’s full
attention, you could hear a pin drop.

Chief of Detectives, Julie O’Brien, gave the present overview report, clearing up some rumors (like the combo-composites going around, which contained 4 people who were in custody before the recent events), and urging everyone to understand that the 3 crime events on New Year’s morning in the same vicinity may include more than one predator and that the investigation is looking at everything and to please not underestimate any info you may have. She explained that it takes time to have all the forensics collections analyzed, and that they do not have DNA yet so even the database screen of past offenders hasn’t happened… and they do not know who the killer is.

Then she conducted a long, painstaking Q & A with the audience, and with the concern so high, it was community spirit that kept everyone so well-behaved in the room. Many concerns were voiced, including that people had called in tips but not heard back. O’Brien explained that the APD has received over 250 tips, each one of them is being prioritized and
tracked, and return calls are made based on that. She will personally look into and re-confirm that tips have been received with any who want that.

The heads of various APD depts were there and Chief Commander Acevedo (who stopped in, out of uniform, with his partner and 3 year old waiting in the car). O’Brien and Acevedo, the main speakers, were very present, up front, and engaging with the audience, and it’s obvious that they have a strong
community commitment. From what they said, I understood that the case details that are not being released to the public are all about crime psychology, like preventing copycats and luring the predator/s. Another audience comment was about how it seems like officers are everywhere for traffic violations but not concentrated on neighborhood foot patrols.
Acevedo energetically responded that traffic postings actually catch lots of offenders, as many of them drive, sort of like a net.

Many times over the course of the evening the audience was reminded that at least one predator for these attacks and Esme’s death is on the loose,
and community organizing and information sharing is essential. Acevedo urged that all residents be on their neighborhood list serve and the police
dept crime notifications list. He said that the biggest thing we can do right now is BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR, now more than ever. And that it is totally appropriate to call 911 if you hear or see suspicious activity around anyone’s place.

One of the audience q’s was about why there had been no APD blood hounds or helicopters involved in the area that night. Acevedo explained that the
APD only has one helicopter, and that it may not be deployable for various reasons – and that the tracking dogs are actually not APD, they are a
volunteer group cohort, and in such a dense urban space such dogs are not used due to millions of tracks and scents.

When asked about the patrolling resources and why there were not more cops on bikes and foot patrols Acevedo broke down numbers and said that our
city’s 911 response average time is 7 minutes which is a LONG time in situations like when Esme was dying and her friend called – and that other cities average 3-4 minutes. He explained that on holidays like NYE,
additional forces are called in and that the neighborhood officers are NOT taken off beat. Austin has way less officers per citizen than other
cities, and he would like another 450 officers and two more helicopters, but that is a City Council issue as demanded by citizens. Because of high-functioning mgnt of the APD in Acevedo’s 5 years here the budget has saved $4million – but that doesn’t mean that the force shouldn’t be increased.

Acevedo also made it clear that overall, Austin’s violent crime rate DROPPED last year, and that more police presence can only help that. He also said some kind of sidewise comment about how that’s the vast majority of the force, and that bad apples DO happen and he is there to make sure that any of those get routed out – which, I hope, was in reference to the
dishonorable conduct of the two officers on NYE night towards the woman they pulled over and the citizen (West Point graduate and Iraq veteran
Buehler) who filmed it all on his phone and was then assaulted by the officers.

I left the meeting with these recommendations:

Join your neighborhood group list www.main.org

Sign up for neighborhood police incident alerts at www.citizenobserver.com

Pepper spray has sold out in much of Austin, Academy Sports still has some.

Personal concerns regarding Hyde Park:

There was a violent assault incidence around Epoch Coffeehouse on North Loop just a few nights ago.

There are some vacant properties around Hyde Park that need to be patrolled so as to ensure that no one is hiding out in them.

I am wondering if we have a Neighborhood Watch group, as it helps with organizing and signage. N.W. functions best when both renters and homeowners are engaged – and each apartment building needs a rep to distribute flyers and report on any suspicious activity. Also, there are special needs and solitary households that benefit from being in the loop
of information and assistance.