Man suspected of murdering mother of his children in Salinas pleads not guilty
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- Update: June 28, 2023, at 2:23 p.m.- The man allegedly responsible for murdering the mother of his children was in a Salinas courtroom Wednesday.
Rodrigo Bravo, 32, pled not guilty to six felony counts. The Monterey County District Attorney's Office charged him with second-degree murder, two counts of causing great bodily harm to a child, violating court-ordered domestic violence restraining order (prior conviction), assault likely to cause great bodily injury and inflicting corporal injury on spouse/cohabitant.
Court documents filed by the district attorney's office alleged that Bravo used a knife to kill, Eleni Tavau, the mother of his two children. Also, he had been convicted of violating a court-ordered restraining order within the past year and causing physical injury to Tavau.
According to court documents Tavau filed and was granted the restraining order in November of 2021.
“It was a domestic violence restraining order so that when that occurs, they've been convicted of a domestic violence crime, and that's the only way to get a domestic violence restraining order," said Brian Johnson, Public Information Officer, for Salinas Police.
The children that witnessed the murder of their mother were a two-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl. Salinas police said the Bravo killed Eleni Tavau, on Sunday, right in front of their children.
According to Tavau's younger brother Alex Carr, "We were on the phone, she was telling me how she was just done with him. She was telling me how she wanted to move out here to Reno, Nevada, and be with me, bring her kids out here."
Bravo's bail was set at $1,020,000. A criminal protection order was granted against Bravo for a Jane and John Doe that is valid until June 24, 2024, per our reporter on the scene.
Bravo will next be in court on July 26, 2023.
The National Coalition of Domestic Violence said 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men are victims of domestic violence. Community Homeless Solutions runs a domestic violence shelter program in Monterey County.
“We just received a grant where we're able to help the survivors,” said. Priscilla Ortega, Program Manager with the Department of Domestic Violence Shelters for Community Homeless Solutions, “If they would like to stay in home, we could help them relocate, we meet with them offsite and kind of help them to make the next step in moving or relocating or leaving the perpetrator.”
Domestic violence shelters ran by community homeless solutions in the central coast say they have help available to any domestic violence victim—regardless of gender.
Ortega also said they have two housing shelters for domestic violence victims one on the Monterey Peninsula and the other one in the Salinas Valley.
All they have to do is call the domestic violence hotlines: 831-422-2201 and 831-394-8372.
ORIGINAL STORY
Salinas Police confirmed a woman has died after being stabbed by the father of two of her children on Sunday on the 100 block of Natividad Road Sunday around 3 p.m.
Rodrigo Bravo, 32, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, child cruelty, domestic violence, violation of parole, and violating a domestic violence restraining order, per the Monterey County Jail. His bail is set at $1,020,000.
Salinas Police said they responded to a victim of a stabbing and found Eleni Tavau, 30, with multiple stab wounds. She was unresponsive when police arrived.
Officers rendered medical aid to Tavau before she was taken to the hospital in grave condition. She later died of her injuries, said police.
Her two toddler-aged children were present at the time law enforcement arrived, said police. At 5:30 p.m. Rodrigo turned himself in at the Salinas Police Department.
