An assistant principal at Live Oak High School will be arraigned
today on one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a
spouse. Gilroy police arrested Kim Lemos, 39, Aug. 26 after she
turned herself in for an incident that occurred the night before at
her home on the 1400 block of Swallow Lane in Gilroy.
An assistant principal at Live Oak High School will be arraigned today on one felony count of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.
Gilroy police arrested Kim Lemos, 39, Aug. 26 after she turned herself in for an incident that occurred the night before at her home on the 1400 block of Swallow Lane in Gilroy.
Lemos returned to work at Live Oak last week and has not been put on administrative leave, Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Wes Smith said Tuesday.
In a phone call to Live Oak Thursday afternoon to ask if Lemos was at work, after several minutes on hold a secretary said “no comment.”
However, four Live Oak students who were leaving school Thursday said Lemos was on campus that day. “Her car is right over there,” one student pointed out.
The incident started about 7 p.m. Aug. 25 when Kim Lemos and her husband, Tim, started arguing over “marriage issues,” according to police.
According to the police report filed by officer Eric Garcia, it was during this time Kim Lemos “took a knife and stabbed the victim in the chest.”
The wound did not require immediate medical attention with Tim Lemos suffering additional wounds to his left hand when he tried to grab the knife from his wife, according to the police report.
The two continued to argue for an hour resulting in Kim Lemos punching her husband several times in the face, according to the report.
Kim Lemos left the residence before Garcia responded to the incident about 10 p.m. Aug. 25, after receiving a call from the victim’s grown son, who reported his stepmother Kim Lemos was assaulting his father, according to the police report.
After an initial interview with police, Tim Lemos – an assistant football coach for Christopher High School in Gilroy – drove himself to Saint Louise Regional Hospital to get his hand stitched, police said.
Kim Lemos turned herself in Aug. 26 to the Gilroy Police Department, but refused to give a statement, according to the police report.
If convicted as currently charged, she faces a maximum prison sentence of four years, said Amy Cornell, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County District Attorney.
When he arrived at the scene, Garcia recovered a 9-inch kitchen knife with a two-pronged tip from the couple’s master bedroom where the dispute took place and also booked into evidence a man’s white T-shirt with dried blood.
At least three children were in the house at the time of the dispute, according to the report.
Witnesses told police the couple had a long history of domestic disputes that sometimes ended in violent behavior. The couple has been married 17 years, according to the police report.
After taking Tim Lemos’ initial statement describing the dispute with his wife, police again questioned him about the events of the night. Upon further questioning, Tim Lemos said “that he didn’t want to get his wife in trouble and that he wanted to recant his statement,” according to the police report.
In a phone interview, Tim Lemos said there were “inconsistencies” in the police report, adding the police interviews were conducted when everyone was “way too emotional.”
“Some things were taken out of context,” he said.
Tim Lemos said he hoped the incident could be resolved without a court case and that he didn’t want to press charges.
“My understanding is that the DA is probably going to drop the charges,” he said Tuesday.
But Cornell said even when a victim doesn’t want to press charges, the Office of the District Attorney considers the facts of the case and files accordingly.
“Technically it’s a crime against him, but it’s a crime against the state,” Cornell said.
Police originally arrested Kim Lemos on suspicion of inflicting injury on a spouse and assault with a deadly weapon. However, the district attorney did not file on the latter charge.
“At this time, we’ve determined that the facts of the case do not support a charge of assault with a deadly weapon,” Cornell said.
Lemos, who taught English at Gilroy High School until 2003, returned to her job at Live Oak High School after the incident, Smith said. She has not been put on administrative leave, he said. According to section 44940 of the California Education Code, an employee is only given a mandatory leave of absence if the charge is related to a sexual offense, selling to minors or using controlled substances.
Jay Totter, assistant superintendent of human resources, said the school district had no comment about Lemos’ arrest.
As assistant principal, her duties include dealing with discipline, attendance, athletics and school safety, among other responsibilities.
Lemos will be arraigned 9 a.m. today in Department 106 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
