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KEARNS — The mother of a man killed in a domestic violence incident said her son "didn't deserve to die like that."
In the early morning of July 21, Tina Vigil's security cameras show the beginning of a deadly morning for her family. The recording shows Tina Vigil's son, Dominique Vigil, and his girlfriend, Sandra Perez, 21, arguing, with Perez hitting and kicking Dominique Vigil.
Tina Vigil said while you see the girlfriend leave in the video, she returned moments later and the altercation continued inside the house. She said she was even injured when trying to get Perez to stop hitting her son.
"She grabbed me by my shirt, and she ripped my shirt off," Tina Vigil recalled. "I grabbed her, we got in a physical altercation."
After that fight, Perez ran into the couple's bedroom and Dominque Vigil followed her and shut the door. That's when shots were fired.
"I go running towards the room, heard more shots. I see one flying through the wall," Tina Vigil said. "I pushed the door open, she shot my son again. I see my son fall ... into the chair."
The mother said Perez turned the gun on her and pulled the trigger three or four times, but the gun was empty. According to Tina Vigil, Perez then left the home. Tina Vigil called 911, but her son was already dead.
She said the couple lived with her and had been together for three years. The family said the couple argued all the time. As part of their rocky past, in September 2021, Dominique Vigil was jailed for domestic violence.
Related:
Man dead following Kearns shooting; girlfriend arrested
A Kearns man is dead and his girlfriend is in custody following an early morning shooting.Tina Vigil said there is a misconception that men aren't victims of domestic violence, but said her son was a victim.
"He was just like the light of our family, literally," she said. "Nobody needs to die like that."
Perez was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of murder and aggravated assault but as of Thursday, no formal charges had been filed against her. She told police she was defending herself from Dominique Vigil and his mother and believed he "was going for the gun which he had used to threaten her with in the past" when she reached for it and got it first, a police booking affidavit states.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
