Activists Claim Police Misconduct In Roya Case

The West Haven Police Department has begun investigating its own investigation into the 2023 sudden death of Roya Mohammadi.

They’re doing so in response to a civilian complaint filed by a pair of New Haven anti-domestic-violence activists who allege that cops botched the first months of their looking into the role that the 29-year-old Afghan immigrant’s uncle — identified in one police report as her ​“uncle/boyfriend” — may have played in Mohammadi’s drowning.

Those New Haven-based activists, Nika Zarazvand and Vanesa Suarez of the group Vivan Las Autonomas, filed that 13-page complaint with the WHPD on April 28. The complaint states that it was also submitted on behalf of Mohammadi’s former employer at Havenly, as well as on behalf of Mohammadi’s mother, her three younger siblings, and her boyfriend.

The complaint marks the latest effort by Zarazvand and Suarez to keep public attention and pressure on West Haven police in regards to the March 3, 2023, drowning death of Mohammadi — a student, translator, and Havenly Fellow who was part of a community of immigrant and refugee women affiliated with the Temple Street nonprofit in New Haven.

The complaint is also part of Zarazvand’s and Suarez’s yearslong effort to get WHPD to arrest Mohammadi’s uncle and identify her death as a domestic-violence-related homicide. It singles out the initial lead detective in Mohammadi’s case as improperly implying that she was in a consensual romantic relationship with a man she had previously identified as her uncle — a man who had previously twice been arrested in alleged incidents of domestic violence.

Click here to read about a recent vigil their group hosted outside West Haven City Hall to mark the two-year anniversary of Mohammadi’s death.

In an email comment provided to the Independent last Thursday, West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer stated that West Haven Police Chief Joseph Perno has assigned the civilian-complaint case to Sgt. Anthony Simone, who has been tasked with completing ​“a thorough, fair and impartial investigation.”

Borer said that Simone ​“has now begun what will be a comprehensive review of all documents and information regarding this matter and will take all necessary steps to diligently and timely complete a thorough investigation of the allegations made by Ms. Zarazvand in her civilian complaint. If after that conclusion there is a need to have a third party review, we will do so in accordance with law and ensure there is accountability.”

Suarez confirmed on Tuesday that Sgt. Simone has been in touch with the activists, and has promised to begin scheduling interviews soon in regards to their complaint.

The complaint accuses the WHPD in general, and Det. Jonathan Suraci in particular, of failing to seriously consider Mohammadi as a domestic violence victim or potential homicide victim during the first eight months of their investigation, from March to November 2023. 

The complaint levels a number of accusations against the WHPD and Suraci, including that Suraci ​“repeatedly misinterpreted common signs of domestic violence in victims in order to make offensive and inappropriate assumptions and comments about Roya’s character, psychological health, and cause of death.”

The complaint details one such example of the detectives’ allegedly ​“insensitive, inappropriate, and unprofessional behavior” when describing a March 21, 2023, phone call between Suraci and Mohammadi’s then-employer at Havenly, Camila Guiza-Chavez. In that call, Suraci reportedly said, ​“you can’t really know a person or what they are hiding,” and referenced an August 2022 Guilford police report in which Mohammadi allegedly had been drinking and had identified her uncle as her boyfriend.

“In the aftermath of a suspicious death potentially caused by domestic violence, Suraci’s question dismissively implies that she was in a consensual romantic relationship with her uncle that she was hiding from her family and boyfriend,” the complaint reads. 

When taken in the context of other allegations of domestic abuse made by Mohammadi against her uncle, in November 2021 and July 2022, these comments ​“show that Suraci is taking [Mohammadi’s] statements at face value instead of interpreting the incident through the lens of what a domestic violence victim might say in the heat of the moment to authorities, especially when she was routinely beaten. Assuming that domestic violence victims are in consensual relationships with their abusers is a sexist and insensitive assumption to make about a victim of a potential homicide.”

The complaint then states that Suraci’s assumption that Mohammadi’s uncle was her boyfriend ​“continued to negatively impact the investigation and resulted in scrutiny towards the victim who is dead and cannot defend herself against Detective Suraci’s portrayal of her abusive relationship.”

The complaint goes on to quote from a February 2024 arrest warrant application seeking the arrest of Mohammadi’s uncle on the charge of interfering with a police officer. That February 2024 police report states that Mohammadi’s uncle had been ​“previously reported to be Mohammadi’s uncle/boyfriend.”

That same arrest report references Suraci’s April 2023 interview of Mohammadi’s uncle, in which the latter denied any wrongdoing in his two previous domestic violence arrests, and ​“denied that he ever had an intimate relationship with Roya and denied hurting Roya to cause her death.”

Suarez’s and Zarazvand’s complaint concludes with a list of 13 allegations of ​“misconduct and neglect” against Suraci, including that he failed to recognize Mohammadi as a victim of domestic violence, failed to recognize her as a potential homicide victim, made ​“offensive and inappropriate assumptions” about her character, and failed to conduct relevant interviews and review relevant evidence in a timely manner.

The complaint then calls for there to be ​“consequences” for West Haven police’s initial alleged failures during its investigation into Mohammadi’s death. The complaint reiterates: ​“Assumptions that imply that a deceased woman and domestic violence victim was in a consensual romantic relationship with her abuser despite countless indications of the contrary and witness reports demonstrates gender-based discrimination.”

West Haven Mayor: "These Advocates Were Not Ignored"

West Haven Mayor Borer provided a series of detailed comments in response to questions for this article, noting that West Haven police have received and are reviewing the civilian complaint. She also stressed how challenging of a case Mohammadi’s death has been to investigate.

For one, she said, the medical examiner’s office did not classify Mohammadi’s drowning as a homicide. ​“The Police cannot overrule a medical examiner’s determination. What they can do and have been doing is trying to determine the ​‘manner in which’ the drowning occurred. This has been difficult because while Roya was discovered in West Haven the point of entry into the water was not in West Haven which again makes it challenging to investigate.”

Borer continued: ​“The police have worked across City lines to confirm point of entry into the water which would assist in the investigation. They have gone as far as bringing in forensics and trying to recreate possible scenarios and given the flow of water at the day what the potential course was. Without it being classified as a homicide, aspects such as obtaining search warrants, cell phone access, interviews have been more challenging and lengthy. There are also off the record complications and layers associated with this specific case that can not be shared at this time.”

When asked about Suarez’s and Zarazvand’s allegations that Suraci made ​“offensive and inappropriate assumptions and comments” about Mohammadi, Borer wrote that, in regards to those alleged comments, ​“I would hope that would never have occurred, but the review of the complaint will follow up on those accusations.”

Borer then provided an accounting of what her administration has done so far to prevent domestic violence, in response to further criticisms by the New Haven-based activists. The mayor added that Suarez’s and Zarazvand’s group had initially asked for federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding ​“to help the city advocate,” and that she had explained that ​“we cannot provide ARPA funding to groups that are not designated non-profit and do not provide a plan.”

In a follow-up interview, Suarez pushed back on this characterization of her group’s requests. She said that Vivan never asked for ARPA money for itself. Instead, they pushed for West Haven to use ARPA money to create a domestic violence and family advocate position within city government, and offered to help provide knowledge, expertise, and support for that position. 

Borer continued by noting, during her first year-and-a-half in office as West Haven mayor, that she has added three permanent positions to the city budget, for a social worker, a community relations worker, and a young adult to work in youth services

She said her administration also created a coalition task force which consists of police, school board members, the health department, and youth services ​“to discuss and brainstorm on approaches to help educate the community and provide services for those who are victims of DV [domestic violence].” She said the police department already partners with the Umbrella Impact, the Rape Crisis Center, and Family Centered Services, and already has a special victims unit that ensures domestic-violence victims are responded to within 24 hours of a complaint.

She said she has doubled the amount of funding in ​“client services,” to assist those in need of immediate housing, and that she has created domestic-violence-prevention outreach materials printed in English and Spanish. Furthermore, she said her administration is working with the city’s school district to bring in speakers on the topic of domestic violence, and to update the curriculum to teach students about everything from the potentially detrimental impacts of social media to topics of ​“jealousy, possessiveness, health relationships, [and] sexual assault.”

“It should be noted these advocates were not ignored,” Borer concluded. ​“I had met with these two advocates, and the Police commission has spoken with them as well. To suggest our City doesn’t care and we aren’t doing anything is incorrect and disheartening.”