Tom GantertBeaver Dam, WI – A DeKalb County prosecutor was shot to death by her ex-husband as their little girl listened from the next room.
The five year old told police that there was “a huge problem” when her father showed up at his parents’ house while she and her mother were visiting on March 23 because “Mommy and Daddy aren’t supposed to see each other,” People reported.
Stacia Hollinshead, 30, had taken her daughter to visit her paternal grandparents because, despite their own situation, she and her ex-husband agreed it was important to maintain the relationship between their daughter and his parents.
Hollinshead filed for divorce from Ulisses Medina Espinosa in May of 2016, The Daily Chronicle reported.
Three months later, she asked a judge to order Medina Espinosa to stay away from her and to limit his visitation rights.
The Daily Chronicle reported that Hollinshead, in a statement to the judge, cited an incident when she was walking with a friend and their children and Medina Espinosa followed them in his car, shouting at her.
The yelling continued until police arrived and Medina Espinosa fled.
That night, records showed that Medina Espinosa had called Hollinshead 26 times in a 20-minute period, and then called 13 times within 13 minutes later on.
The Daily Chronicle reported that he called his soon-to-be ex-wife a total of 65 times that night.
“[Medina Espinosa] is verbally and emotionally abusive to me,” her statement to the judge read, according to The Daily Chronicle. “He frequently demands to call me on video-chat to talk to [our daughter] to verify our location.”
Court records showed that Hollinshead and her soon-to-be ex-husband had argued over custody of their child and that she had an order of protection against him for his erratic and harassing behavior during their two-year separation.
In May, Medina Espinosa called DeKalb police to allege that his daughter had been sexually abused and he was told to take the little girl to the Child Advocacy Center in Woodstock.
Medical staff interviewed the child and determined no abuse had occurred, according to The Daily Chronicle.
The order of protection against Medina Espinosa expired June 11, 2018, according to The Daily Chronicle.
In September of 2018, Medina Espinosa tried to get his visitation rights back by citing the debunked sexual abuse accusations.
Hollinshead’s divorce from Medina Espinoza was finalized in March, People reported.
Then Medina Espinosa’s visitation rights were restored on March 15, but with the restriction that Hollinshead had to be there to supervise the visit, according to The Daily Chronicle.
Hollinshead, a newly-barred attorney and an Army veteran, was trying to live up to her half of their parenting agreement when Medina Espinosa murdered her on March 23.
His ex-wife was standing in his parents’ kitchen when he opened fire on her.
“He started shooting Mommy with a gun. He kept shooting Mommy,” the five year old told police, according to People. “I was going to tell Daddy not to shoot Mommy because if Mommy is hurt she won’t be able to drive me home.”
Medina Espinosa’s parents called the police, and their son was taken into custody without incident, according to The Daily Chronicle.
Hollinshead graduated from Northern Illinois University’s law school and was hired as an assistant state’s attorney in DeKalb County in November of 2018.
DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato posted on Facebook that Hollinshead’s death was “the worst possible outcome of domestic violence.”
“We who work in public safety talk frequently about the risks associated with domestic violence. As prosecutors, we intervene in domestic violence cases in court to prevent the nightmare outcome that we’re all now living through,” Amato wrote. “Domestic violence is about power and control, it is learned behavior, it is present in all communities, it crosses all social and economic barriers, and it is preventable. No faction of society is immune from it, not even those who work in the public safety arena, fiercely dedicated to stopping it.”