Lauris Saldana still bears visible scars on her face, neck, arms and hands from a brutal 2022 assault by her former partner that she survived but that killed her mother, Yolanda Saldana Feliz. A coroner ruled the unlawful killing preventable if the Metropolitan Police had properly addressed Lauris’s reports of domestic abuse and stalking. Repeated requests for help, supported by evidence of her estranged husband’s threatening behaviour, went unanswered, leaving her mother unprotected. In a prevention of future deaths report sent earlier this month to the home secretary, the mayor of London and Met commissioner Mark Rowley, east London senior coroner Graeme Irvine detailed multiple police failings that contributed to the death of Yolanda at the hands of Miguel Angel Florentino. Lauris met Florentino in the Dominican Republic in 2016. They married in 2019 and planned to settle in London, where he had worked. By the time her visa was granted in 2021, she had grown concerned over his jealous outbursts and prior mental-health hospitalisation in Spain, as well as legal troubles in both Spain and the Dominican Republic. The marriage ended, yet Lauris wished to use the visa. She invited her mother to accompany her and stay with Florentino. Yolanda, described by Lauris as a caring nurse, agreed. Upon arrival the two women felt uneasy and soon moved to a shared flat in Stratford with other newcomers. Florentino later obtained their address and began using Lauris’s immigration papers to exert control. A solicitor helped her secure her documents, bringing several months of calm. In March 2022 a housemate informed Lauris that Florentino had been arrested after threatening others with a knife. After release he returned to Spain for mental-health treatment but soon came back to London, where his stalking escalated. Lauris lost weight from stress, had her phone repeatedly destroyed and received threats. She reported the harassment in person twice and sent unanswered emails containing videos and screenshots of obsessive messages from more than twenty-four numbers. She asked for a restraining order or deportation. Eleven days before the fatal attack she again supplied evidence. On the day of the incident Yolanda was killed while trying to shield her daughter.
