HER NAME LIVES ON A.V. CENTER PAYS HONOR TO SLAIN WOMAN.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - On what would have been her 43rd birthday, the Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council on Tuesday named its center after a woman who was beaten to death in 1991 by her ex-boyfriend.

Jeanna Pealer-Yetter, 33, was killed five months after she refused to testify against her ex-boyfriend for a previous attack that left her with a broken rib, a broken leg and a ruptured eardrum.

``No one could predict that her life, and tragic death, would become a symbol to those suffering from domestic violence and an inspiration to those who fight to eliminate domestic violence each day,'' sheriff's Sgt. Theresa Dawson, who is the council's board president, said at the tearful dedication ceremony.

``Today is a celebration of her short life. Jeanna was a daughter, a sister, a mother and a friend whose compassion and generosity left a lasting mark on those who knew and loved her,'' Dawson said. ``This dedication of the (center) will ensure that her compassion will continue through the daily work of the Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council.''

The dedication was attended by Pealer-Yetter's parents, who drove from the Sacramento area, her sister, and her daughter, Cayla, who was 8 when her mother died.

On display at the ceremony was an 11-by-14-inch portrait of a beaming and elegantly dressed Pealer-Yetter holding Cayla, her only child. It was taken when Cayla was 9 months to 1 year old.

``I hope that because we're doing this, that if one child can call her mom's name and hear her answer, it is well worth it,'' said Cayla Yetter, now 18 and working as an office assistant and telemarketing supervisor at a construction firm in Chatsworth.

Yetter remembers with clarity the day she found out her mother died.

``I can tell you what I was wearing when it happened. It's one of those things you don't forget,'' she said before the ceremony.

Yetter said she remembers most her mother's smile and unselfish ways. She was always working with her hands and was skilled at doing crafts.

``She gave to everybody and didn't take much for herself,'' Yetter said.

Pealer-Yetter's mother, Daisy Pealer, said the center dedication was a wonderful tribute to her daughter.

``Jeanna was very talented, very artistic. She could create a lot out of nothing. It's too bad her talents were wasted,'' Pealer said. ``She was a very caring person. She was always thinking about others, not of herself, unfortunately. Her life was too short.''

Jack Pealer, Pealer-Yetter's father, said of the center bearing his daughter's name, ``This gives her life total purpose.''

Before about 40 people, council officials unveiled a bronze plaque with Pealer-Yetter's name on it and released purple and white balloons at the ceremony's close. Purple is the symbolic color of the anti-domestic violence movement.

The center, in Lancaster, has been open for several years and houses members of the council's Mobile Advocacy Trauma Team, or MATT, who respond with sheriff's deputies to domestic violence incidents.

Also operating out of the center are case managers who accompany domestic violence victims through the court process and help connect them to services and resources in the community, said Trish Jones, program manager for fund development.

John Carl Heller of Littlerock was sentenced in 1993 to 25 years to life in prison for the November 1991 beating death of Pealer-Yetter, who died from traumatic shock as a result of at least 40 blows to her body.

Heller had been arrested five months before the killing on suspicion of felony spousal abuse and assault, but charges were dropped when Yetter refused to testify against Yeller, officials said.

Yetter had stayed six weeks in the domestic violence shelter after the first attack. The couple then separated and had an on-again, off-again relationship until her death, prosecutors said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) From left, Trish Jones, Carol Ensign, Daisy Pealer and Cayla Rae Yetter gather near a picture of Jeanna Pealer-Yetter holding her daughter, Cayla, in about 1984. Daisy Pealer is the mother of Jeanna. Jones and Ensign are officials of the Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council.

(2 -- color) Spectators, at left, gather for the dedication of the Antelope Valley Domestic Violence Council's new center.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer