Melanie, or as her friends call her Mel is a powerfully courageous person. Her lifelong goal of being a firefighter became reality when she joined the San Francisco Fire Department. Regrettably this was a short lived dream that became a nightmare. Just a little over a year latter in March of 1995 Mel was injured in a fire that left her with burns over forty percent of her body, with brain damage that left her legally blind, epileptic and with other neurological disorders. After a long battle to recover Mel moved to Guerneville in Sonoma County. Continue forward to 2013. Mel started working with a new home helper by the name of Kimberly. This woman quickly found many ways to take money from Mel. Over the next year she manged through theft and forgery to take over $100,000 from Mel. This theft included but not limited to forging checks, unauthorized use of credit and ATM cards. Also she looted many valuable and meaningful objects from the home.

We are asking that the Sonoma County District Attorney not allow this predator to walk away from this horrid crime that has left Mel without the ability to continue enjoying her life, and make needed repairs on her home.

We ask that the District Attorney press all criminal charges in this case and not accept a plea bargain deal.

We ask that any sentencing recommendations that come out of the Office of the District Attorney seek nothing less than the maximum penalties allowable under the law to keep this from happening to anyone else anytime soon.

Please note, this was written by Mel's current home aid, because of her inability to type, read or write due to her vision disabilities.