TOLEDO, Ohio — Three of Toledo's five murders this year are suspected to involve domestic violence.
One man accused of murdering his girlfriend was recently released from jail after serving time for assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
Now, many are asking why he didn't spend more time behind bars.
"He kicks me in the face. He had steel-toes on," Nichole Clark said about the February night in 2019 when, now 36-year-old, Juan Garibaldo beat her.
"He pushes me down the stairs, so I'm tumbling all down the stairs," Clark said.
Eventually, she said she was able to escape to safety.
Garibaldo was sentenced to two years in jail on felonious assault charges; the minimum sentence.
"It's a second-degree felony and carries two to eight years in prison," Jerome Phillips, a local defense attorney said.
Phillips said there's also a potential 50% add-on at the end of the sentence.
Garibaldo was released in April of 2021.
This week, he was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Sarah Schulte.
Phillips said offenders are sentenced based on past and current behavior. Not on what they might do in the future. At the time of his sentencing, Garibaldo had no previous record.
"What we don't want to do is punish the 99-and-a-half percent of the people who maybe would not commit a future offense and incarcerate those people for a longer period than necessary," Phillips said.
Garibaldo could have gone to trial on the felonious assault charges, but Clark said she was traumatized and in no condition to speak on her own behalf in court.
"I just didn't want him to look at me. I didn't want to see him," she said.
Phillips said a trial could have resulted in more jail time for Garibaldo, but there is no guarantee.
Clark said she is sick over Schulte's death.
"I just feel really, really bad for her family," she said.
But, how do felonious assault charges compare to domestic violence charges?
Phillips said felonious assault carries the most weight because it causes serious bodily harm. Domestic violence charges are misdemeanors and, at most, carry six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.