WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
NEWS
Hermiston man pleads guilty to two stabbings
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
A
Hermiston
man
accused of stabbing two oth-
ers last June pleaded guilty
on Friday to two counts of
attempted murder.
Aaron Martin Zuwala,
34, who appeared by video
in Hermiston Circuit Court,
had previously pleaded not
guilty to stabbing Harold
Lloyd Piercy and Richard
James Rukaveno in June,
but changed his plea on Fri-
day. Four other counts, two
of assault in the first degree
and two of unlawful use of
Aaron Zuwala
a weapon, were dropped.
Zuwala will serve two,
90-month sentences concur-
rently, minus the five months
he’s already spent in jail.
He is not eligible for a
reduction of sentence, and
will have a three-year, post-
prison supervision period.
The court also suggested
that he receive mental health
services after prison.
Zuwala was arrested June
4 for stabbing Piercy and
Rukaveno at a residence
near a storage unit on Herm-
iston’s Kelli Boulevard. He
knew both of the victims.
Though Zuwala was
ordered to have no contact
with Rukaveno, he was only
ordered to have no offen-
sive contact with Piercy, at
Piercy’s request.
Jaclyn Jenkins, the Uma-
tilla County lead deputy dis-
trict attorney, said she had
been able to speak with
Piercy, but the state was
never able to track down
Rukaveno after he went to
the hospital. She said Piercy
was favorably disposed
toward Zuwala, and said
he would like to have con-
tact with him if Zuwala was
open to the idea.
Zuwala spoke briefly at
the end of the hearing, say-
ing only that he regretted his
actions.
“I can’t believe this all
happened, and I’m really
sorry,” he said. “It’s kind of
a mystery to me why I did it,
too.”
Zuwala’s defense attor-
ney, Dan Stephens, said he
had his client evaluated by a
physician after the incident.
“Mr. Zuwala only has
one little misdemeanor in
his past,” Stephens said. “I
was concerned about psy-
chological issues. It’s very
bizarre that this would occur
the way it did.”
But he said a doctor found
no psychological issues.
“This was kind of a per-
fect storm of things going
on in Mr. Zuwala’s life,”
Stephen said. “There was
some substance abuse. Mr.
Zuwala’s been very apolo-
getic about everything that
happened.”
According
to
court
records, Zuwala has not one
but several misdemeanors,
including criminal mischief
in the second degree, theft in
the second degree, and fur-
nishing alcohol to a person
under 21.
Both Jenkins and Ste-
phens said they did not want
to comment further about
the incidents leading up to
the stabbing, or why Piercy
was favorably disposed to
Zuwala.
Instructor at prison wins state award Vehicle
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Dulcie Hays knows what it’s
like to have no one believe in
you.
Growing up in Irrigon in a
poor family, she said teachers
and classmates never expected
her to succeed.
Now the 2018 Oregon GED
Educator of the Year, Hays
draws on her own background as
she helps inmates work toward
their General Education Devel-
opment certificates.
“I don’t give up on people
who society has already given up
on,” she said. “I get that.”
Hays won the statewide
award after a 15-year career with
BMCC, 13 of which she’s spent
working as a teacher at Two Riv-
ers Correctional Institution. She
teaches inmates who are working
toward their GED degrees, cov-
ering several subjects and every
skill level. She also teaches a
few times a week at the BMCC
Hermiston campus, working
with GED students.
Hays still thinks about the
experiences that shaped her early
education. Capable and ready
to learn, she was hampered by
other barriers.
“We were the poorest, whit-
est trash family in Irrigon,” she
said. “People never let me for-
get who my brothers were, who
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
Dulcie Hays is the Oregon
GED Educator of the Year.
Hays is a teacher at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in
Umatilla.
my cousins were. So I hated
school. Freshman year, I missed
so much school they took me off
the roster.”
But something clicked for
Hays when, on a day she was
suspended from school, her
mom took her along to one of
her classes at BMCC.
“It was the first time I’d really
seen her motivated,” Hays said,
recalling that sitting in the class
inspired her as well. “They just
really wanted to help people.”
After attending BMCC and
Eastern Oregon University, she
returned to Irrigon, and applied
for a job opening as an assess-
ment and training specialist at
BMCC. The job included train-
ing teachers, tutoring students
for the GED, and administering
tests.
In 2005, a teacher left the pro-
gram, and others encouraged her
to apply. Although she didn’t
have a master’s degree, Hays
created a lesson plan, and got the
job — her current role.
Working with a group of
about 12 students at a time,
Hays teaches at TRCI five days a
week, three classes a day.
She will have inmates, who
have already passed the course,
serve as tutors as they cover four
subjects.
“We’re teaching science,
social studies, reading and math
all at the same time,” she said.
Because students are all com-
ing in with different levels of
skill and experience, they often
have to individualize the lessons.
“I’m constantly looking for
patterns, and having multiple
objectives for every lesson, so
everyone is getting something
out of it,” she said.
Along with writing grants and
advocating for corrections-spe-
cific curriculum, much of Hays’
time goes into understanding
how individual students learn.
“I ask, ‘What’s something
you know well? How would you
teach that to somebody?’” Hays
said. “There’s nothing you can’t
learn. More than the curricu-
lum itself, I’ve had to adapt the
approach.”
Hays said about 30 percent of
inmates statewide come in with-
out a GED certificate. Getting
one while incarcerated is often a
springboard to further education.
Tammy Krawczyk, director
of college prep at BMCC, said
six students have completed
their GED certificate since July.
That number does not include
the prison, she said.
But she said overall, BMCC
has seen an increase in the num-
ber of students completing GED
certificates, and those transfer-
ring into college courses.
Hays said she has seen a con-
nection between the students
who complete the GED program
and succeed in school, and suc-
cess once they leave TRCI.
“I’ve seen people out in town
who were in our program,” she
said. “We’ve gotten postcards,
phone calls from people want-
ing letters of recommendation,
which we don’t give. Or they
just want to say thank you.”
She said increasingly, there
are programs to move former
inmates back into the workforce,
and highlighted the skills they
develop if they apply themselves
while in prison.
Still, it’s a challenge for many
recovered
after theft
HERMISTON HERALD
A man was arrested Thursday for
allegedly stealing a vehicle from Agape
House, a nonprofit organization that col-
lects food donations and supplies for
people in the Hermiston area.
Chad Seelye had parked the stolen
2004 Chevy Silverado in the Rite Aid
parking lot on South Highway 395, and a
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office deputy
spotted him walking around the vehi-
cle. Seelye was taken into custody in the
Walker’s Farm Kitchen parking lot.
Agape House Executive Director
Dave Hughes said they noticed the vehi-
cle missing from the property on Mon-
day night. The thief had removed the
license plate from the vehicle and put
a different one on. Hermiston Police
Chief Jason Edmiston said the license
plates belonged to a stolen vehicle out of
Kennewick, which officers have not yet
tracked down.
Hughes said the vehicle was
unlocked, and it’s possible the keys had
been left in there.
He said no valuables were taken
from the truck, and the truck had minor
damage.
Hughes said this is likely the third
time a vehicle has been stolen from
Agape House.
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