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Daughter, 15, pleaded in 911 call for Sylvania police to save mom
Danny Anaya is guided by officers during his arraignment in Sylvania Municipal Court. The killing of Mr. Anaya's wife, Rhonda, was the first murder in the city in 20 years.
By MIKE JONES
BLADE STAFF WRITER
In a terrified but hushed voice, the youngest of Rhonda Anaya's three teenage daughters pleaded for a 911 operator to send police to their Sylvania home.
"My dad's hitting my mom," 15-year-old Devin Anaya said in a taped 911 call made at 3:06 a.m. Tuesday. "Hurry! Hurry here, please! Please!
"He's hurting her. Please help. He's going to kill her," Devin said of her 54-year-old father, Danny.
Though she told the operator she was shaking, Devin remained calm enough during the call from an upstairs bedroom at the home at 8034 Littlefield Court to clearly give her address and phone number.
After telling the operator her father's name, she bluntly added: "There's blood."
A short time later, Devin said, "I don't want him to hear me," and stopped talking.
In minutes that likely seemed much longer to her and her two sisters, Sylvania police arrived outside their home located in the Eagle Trace subdivision, south of Erie Street.
Mr. Anaya met police at the door. Shortly after entering the house, police found the body of Mrs. Anaya, 42, on the kitchen floor. She was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest, Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a Lucas County deputy coroner, ruled yesterday.
Devin dared not talk loudly on the phone because the family's three daughters had been fearful their father might attack them when he came upstairs, Lynne Radecki, a friend of the victim, said yesterday.
Mrs. Radecki said Danyelle Anaya, 16, had later told her daughter that the Anaya girls had heard the commotion from downstairs and knew the situation was serious. Devin had reportedly begun to go downstairs in response to the noise, but her father told her not to.
"He said, 'Everything's all right, now,' " Mrs. Radecki related.
Mrs. Anaya's murder was the first in Sylvania in 20 years, and extra security was visible at Sylvania Municipal Court when Mr. Anaya was arraigned before Judge Scott Ramey yesterday on a charge of aggravated murder.
Mr. Anaya's attorney, Martin Mohler, told the judge it was unlikely his client could make bond but asked the judge that it be "reasonable."
Bond was set at $5 million, and Mr. Anaya is being held in the Lucas County jail awaiting a preliminary hearing set for next Thursday in municipal court.
After the brief court appearance, Mr. Mohler declined comment.
The preliminary hearing will be unnecessary if Mr. Anaya is indicted first. An indictment from the Lucas County grand jury will likely be sought this week, said John Weglian, chief of the special units division of the Lucas County prosecutor's office.
Mr. Weglian said the aggravated murder charge is appropriate because there is evidence that the killing was planned and not the result of an emotional outburst. He declined to be specific about that evidence.
Mrs. Anaya had filed for divorce from her husband in July, and there were allegations of abuse by Mr. Anaya against the children in papers filed in Lucas County Domestic Relations Court. Sylvania police had been called to the house five times between May 13 and Aug. 1.
Attorney Nicholas Hetzer, who was representing Mrs. Anaya in the divorce proceeding, said he has been in contact with her three sisters and her parents.
He described Mrs. Anaya's family as close. Family members, he said, declined comment about Mrs. Anaya's slaying and said their first concern is for the welfare of the children.
Angelique Anaya, 18, attends St. Ursula Academy. Devin and Danyelle attend Northview High School. Their brother, 14-year-old Drake, whose school affiliation those interviewed could not provide, spent the night of the attack elsewhere.
There have been initial professional attempts at helping the children, Mr. Hetzer said, and the family intends to do what is necessary to help.
Mrs. Radecki said family members have been staying at an undisclosed location in the Sylvania area. Some of them attended yesterday's hearing but left as soon as it concluded.
To hear the audiotape of Devin Anaya's 911 call to Sylvania police, visit www.toledoblade.com.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051027/NEWS03/510270370/0/NEWS24
Danny Anaya is guided by officers during his arraignment in Sylvania Municipal Court. The killing of Mr. Anaya's wife, Rhonda, was the first murder in the city in 20 years.
By MIKE JONES
BLADE STAFF WRITER
In a terrified but hushed voice, the youngest of Rhonda Anaya's three teenage daughters pleaded for a 911 operator to send police to their Sylvania home.
"My dad's hitting my mom," 15-year-old Devin Anaya said in a taped 911 call made at 3:06 a.m. Tuesday. "Hurry! Hurry here, please! Please!
"He's hurting her. Please help. He's going to kill her," Devin said of her 54-year-old father, Danny.
Though she told the operator she was shaking, Devin remained calm enough during the call from an upstairs bedroom at the home at 8034 Littlefield Court to clearly give her address and phone number.
After telling the operator her father's name, she bluntly added: "There's blood."
A short time later, Devin said, "I don't want him to hear me," and stopped talking.
In minutes that likely seemed much longer to her and her two sisters, Sylvania police arrived outside their home located in the Eagle Trace subdivision, south of Erie Street.
Mr. Anaya met police at the door. Shortly after entering the house, police found the body of Mrs. Anaya, 42, on the kitchen floor. She was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest, Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a Lucas County deputy coroner, ruled yesterday.
Devin dared not talk loudly on the phone because the family's three daughters had been fearful their father might attack them when he came upstairs, Lynne Radecki, a friend of the victim, said yesterday.
Mrs. Radecki said Danyelle Anaya, 16, had later told her daughter that the Anaya girls had heard the commotion from downstairs and knew the situation was serious. Devin had reportedly begun to go downstairs in response to the noise, but her father told her not to.
"He said, 'Everything's all right, now,' " Mrs. Radecki related.
Mrs. Anaya's murder was the first in Sylvania in 20 years, and extra security was visible at Sylvania Municipal Court when Mr. Anaya was arraigned before Judge Scott Ramey yesterday on a charge of aggravated murder.
Mr. Anaya's attorney, Martin Mohler, told the judge it was unlikely his client could make bond but asked the judge that it be "reasonable."
Bond was set at $5 million, and Mr. Anaya is being held in the Lucas County jail awaiting a preliminary hearing set for next Thursday in municipal court.
After the brief court appearance, Mr. Mohler declined comment.
The preliminary hearing will be unnecessary if Mr. Anaya is indicted first. An indictment from the Lucas County grand jury will likely be sought this week, said John Weglian, chief of the special units division of the Lucas County prosecutor's office.
Mr. Weglian said the aggravated murder charge is appropriate because there is evidence that the killing was planned and not the result of an emotional outburst. He declined to be specific about that evidence.
Mrs. Anaya had filed for divorce from her husband in July, and there were allegations of abuse by Mr. Anaya against the children in papers filed in Lucas County Domestic Relations Court. Sylvania police had been called to the house five times between May 13 and Aug. 1.
Attorney Nicholas Hetzer, who was representing Mrs. Anaya in the divorce proceeding, said he has been in contact with her three sisters and her parents.
He described Mrs. Anaya's family as close. Family members, he said, declined comment about Mrs. Anaya's slaying and said their first concern is for the welfare of the children.
Angelique Anaya, 18, attends St. Ursula Academy. Devin and Danyelle attend Northview High School. Their brother, 14-year-old Drake, whose school affiliation those interviewed could not provide, spent the night of the attack elsewhere.
There have been initial professional attempts at helping the children, Mr. Hetzer said, and the family intends to do what is necessary to help.
Mrs. Radecki said family members have been staying at an undisclosed location in the Sylvania area. Some of them attended yesterday's hearing but left as soon as it concluded.
To hear the audiotape of Devin Anaya's 911 call to Sylvania police, visit www.toledoblade.com.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051027/NEWS03/510270370/0/NEWS24
