Those who attended City College during the Fall 2010 semester are likely to remember the slaying of Diana Gonzalez on Oct. 12.

The nightmarish scene of homicide detectives investigating her slaying in M-building that week is a not-so-distant memory, especially for people who knew her.

Her killing spotlighted problems that many women and families face, not just those limited to domestic abuse but also how these reports are handled by police and the justice system.

Larissa Dorman, a political science professor at City, had never met Gonzalez but did have one of Gonzalez’s relatives as a student.

Dorman, who referred to the San Diego District Attorney’s efforts as “failed promises,” became intimately involved in helping the Gonzalez family.

Dorman was one of the faculty members who brought “The Vagina Monologues” to Saville Theatre, a play that celebrates femininity and        combats abuse against women.

Ninety percent of the proceeds from the play, now in its third year at City, go to help the Gonzalez family and the victim’s daughter Crystal, who is now being raised by Gonzalez’s parents.

Dorman and other faculty members at City have been considering an installation of a permanent memorial for Gonzalez on campus. According to Dorman, the memorial is still in the planning stages.

“Our focus was on catching Armando,” Dorman said.

Armando Perez, Gonzalez’s husband and the only suspect in her murder, was recently captured.

The Gonzalez family and their friends,  including Dorman, can now begin to turn their focus away from Perez and start the legal steps for Gonzalez’s parents to adopt Crystal.

“Crystal is like a daughter to me. I tell my husband if I didn’t have her, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here,” said Gonzalez’s mother, Concepcion, in an interview with City’s “Newscene.”

This year, the proceeds from “The Vagina Monologues” will help the Gonzalez family pay for legal fees during the adoption process
Donations to the Gonzalez family can be mailed to Gonzalez Family Fund #114, San Diego City College, care of City College Foundation, 1313 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101.
Suggestions for a future memorial in Gonzalez’s honor on the City campus can be emailed to [email protected].