Involuntary manslaughter conviction in girlfriend’s death
SAN JOSE >> A man charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who was found dead on the floor of the couple’s San Jose apartment four years ago, has been acquitted, with a jury finding him guilty of involuntary manslaughter instead.
Darrell Deleoz, 40, was released from jail last week after spending over four years in custody awaiting trial in the Sept. 12, 2015, death of his live-in girlfriend, Jennifer Lee, at their Race Street apartment. Deleoz is scheduled for formal sentencing Jan. 6 but already has exceeded the four-year maximum incarceration term for involuntary manslaughter.
The defendant’s father, Dennis Deleoz, said his son would not be making any public comments after the verdict, in which jurors rejected the first- and seconddegree murder charges put forward by the Santa Clara
County District Attorney’s Office.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to Jen and her family,” Dennis Deleoz told this news organization. “After being incarcerated for more than four years and losing everything he’s worked for, justice has prevailed and Darrell is coming home.”
The District Attorney’s Office had characterized the death as a domestic violence killing.
“We presented our case and argued that this was a murder, but the jury saw it as a manslaughter instead,” Assistant District Attorney James Gibbons-Shapiro said in a statement. “We remain strongly committed to victims of domestic violence and will continue our efforts to fight for them.”
Darrell Deleoz worked as an investment banker and had served in the Army and the California Army National Guard. At the time of his arrest, he had worked in San Jose for about six months,
after previously working in Southern California, where his family resides.
Police say that on the morning Lee was found dead, Darrell Deleoz dialed 911 and reported that he had awakened to discover Lee lying on the kitchen floor, not breathing. An autopsy determined that Lee suffered injuries to her face and the back of her head and a lacerated liver and fractured ribs, all consistent with blunt force trauma. Fire personnel reported that responded to the scene said that Lee had been lying where she was found for “an extended period of time.”
Darrell Deleoz was arrested after neighbors told police they saw and heard the couple arguing loudly the night before and that the disagreement seemed to be getting physical.
The defendant told police and also testified that he and Lee had been arguing over Lee’s drinking and that some pushing occurred, eventually leading to both of them falling to the ground, with Darrell Deleoz falling on top of Lee. He then got up and went to bed, leaving her where she landed, he said.
Darrell Deleoz said he believed that Lee had fallen asleep. In reality, she was dying from a skull fracture suffered in the fall.
By finding him guilty of involuntary manslaughter rather than murder, jurors decided that he did not kill Lee but still had some responsibility for her death through negligence or recklessness, perhaps through his involvement in the purported fall, or for not checking on her afterward.
Deputy Public Defender Michelle Vasquez described the case as a “tragic accident” and thanked jurors for carefully considering the evidence.
“Their hard work and diligence were invaluable to a just outcome,” she said. “There are no winners in cases like these. My hope is that the jury’s verdict can bring some peace and closure to everyone that was touched by this tragedy,” Vasquez said.