Amina Duro, a 24-year-old mother from Desert Hot Springs, California, was shot and killed on November 7, 2020. Officers who responded to reports of a gunshot victim located Duro on the 66700 block of Eighth Street; she suffered a single gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. She leaves four young daughters.

Police identified the suspect as Jesse Rico Valenzuela, the father of Duro’s children. Valenzuela was on probation for a 2018 felony spousal abuse conviction and had a court order barring him from contacting Duro. He was arrested and charged with murder, two felony counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest, evading police in a vehicle, and violating a court order. At a preliminary hearing in March 2022 a judge dismissed the resisting arrest charge but found sufficient evidence for Valenzuela to stand trial on the remaining counts; his trial is scheduled to begin January 14, 2025, and he is held at Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on $1 million bail.

Duro’s sister, Alana Duro, has urged others in abusive situations to seek help and leave.