Homicide victim’s supporters stage impassioned protest
EL CENTRO — Chanting “Justice for Jamie” in English and Spanish, an enthusiastic group of about 50 took to Main Street in front of the Imperial County Courthouse Friday afternoon to demand the District Attorney’s Office file charges in the death of Rose Jamie Campos.
“All of this has made things worse, the fact they haven’t made arrests,” Campos’ mother, Isabel Campos, said in Spanish. “Besides dealing with the death, it seems there’s no priority for what happened.”
Campos, 43, was found dead Oct. 20 in her residence near McConnell and Worthington roads, east of Imperial. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt head trauma and the matter was ruled a homicide, the Coroner’s Office reported.
No arrests have been made, but the family has said they believe a man with whom Campos previously had a relationship is responsible for her death.
The tragedy was compounded when, despondent over her mother’s death, Salma Vega, 20, drove to San Diego County on the evening of April 3 and jumped to her death from the Pine Creek bridge on Interstate 8 near Descanso.
The dual tragedies sent the family, friends and some community members reeling. Their frustrations have been vented toward the county Sheriff ’s and District Attorney’s offices due to no one being charged in connection Campos’ death.
D.A. Gilbert Otero said his office became involved due to friction between the family and Sheriff ’s investigators.
But he defended that agency saying the delay in a possible prosecution was due to the time being taken by the state Department of Justice to analyze collected evidence.
On Friday, Deputy District Attorney Margaret Tafoya said the office is still awaiting the Sheriff ’s report because that agency is awaiting results from the DOJ analysis.
Told of this at the protest, Campos’ brother, Amado Lizarraga, complained the D.A.’s office has not kept up with promises to keep the family informed of the case’s status.
“We understand they can’t convey everything, and we understand they can’t solve everything overnight. But can’t they pick up the phone and talk to us? It just feels like they’re not doing what they should be doing,” he said, explaining the agency has postponed meetings with the family despite promising them.
Organizers of the event handed out “Justicia para Rose Jamie y Salma” T-shirts and most participants wore various shirts and carried signs and banners with that theme.
The crowd grew from several on the curb line in front of the courthouse shortly before 4 p.m. to dozens chanting and waving signs about a half hour later. The gathering spilled over to across the street in front of the County Administration Center. One woman shuttled back and forth bringing chilled bottled water to demonstrators even though the warm afternoon was tempered by a cooling breeze.
“I’m thankful for how the people who support us are willing to let others know the pain she (Rose Jamie) was experiencing,” Isabel Campos said. “We don’t know what else to do with the D.A. We have begged them to listen, but no answers.”
Those gathered remembered Campos as a woman who cared deeply about others. She was a lead advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault victims for the El Centro-based Sure Helpline Center. As such, she was typically the first person from the organization to meet with victims, a cruel irony since her family believes her death involved domestic violence.
“I was her supervisor. She was an angel,” said Gilbert Grijalva, Sure Helpline program manager. “She had the biggest, kindest heart you’ve ever seen. She was a very patient, loving person. People felt comfortable with her.”
Former Imperial Valley resident Daniel Ochoa Jr. said he and Campos dated as teenagers.
“She was just too nice. I spoke to her before this went down last July and we were supposed to talk again, but that was the last time I spoke to her,” he said. “I cried when
I got the news (of her death). Justice has to be done because this D.A. hasn’t been doing anything.”
Campos’ twin sister, Isabel Reyna, vowed there would be more such events until someone is brought to justice for the killing.
“This is literally a living nightmare because we are literally in pieces. This has been so painful,” she said.
Following the protest the family had a memorial service for Campos and Vega at Desert Trails RV Park in El Centro.