In the days leading up to her death, Renee Francisca Dominguez, a 38-year-old Hispanic female, expressed a chilling premonition to her closest friends: she was going to die. Her fear was palpable, a dark cloud that hung over her as she navigated a life filled with threats and abuse. On the evening of Friday, January 14, 2022, in Pueblo, Colorado, her fears became a tragic reality when she was shot and killed at a Dollar General on the east side of the city.
The man identified by the Pueblo Police Department as the suspect was her 59-year-old ex-boyfriend, Jerome Bustos.
The story of Renee's final weeks is a harrowing account of a woman desperately seeking protection from a man she said was stalking and abusing her. Court records show that she had taken legal steps to ensure her safety, filing for a civil protection order against Bustos on November 9th of the previous year. A temporary restraining order was granted the following day. In her application, she detailed a recent incident of physical abuse, stating, 'I went into the fetal position, and he started whaling on me with a closed fist.' She also documented multiple violations of the protection order, including finding a note on her car and receiving numerous text messages from him. She even reported him waiting for her at a gas station across from her work.
Despite her efforts and the evidence she presented, the judicial system seemed to move at a pace that couldn't keep up with the escalating danger she faced. Her friends recounted her breaking down in court, her terror evident to all who would see. Continuances were filed, and her next court appearance was not scheduled until February 7th. Tragically, she would not live to see that day. The day after Renee was murdered, Jerome Bustos was found dead from a suspected suicide, bringing a grim and abrupt end to the case, with no arrest ever made in her death.
Renee was remembered by her loved ones as a loving mother to her son, Miguel Salomon Trujillo, and a cherished daughter to her mother, Laverne Dominguez. Born in Germany, she had grown up in Texas and Colorado and was a graduate of Intellitec College in Pueblo, working as a Registered Medical Assistant at the Southern Colorado Clinic-Urgent Care. Her friends and family recalled her infectious smile, her love for dancing to Hispanic music, and her unique combination of being a fisherman and hunter who always maintained her femininity. In the wake of her violent death, those who knew her were left to grapple with the profound loss and the frustrating knowledge that her repeated cries for help had gone unanswered.
