Thomas Iovenetti in photos posted on Facebook on June 13, 2021 (top) (redacted by the Herald) and May 28, 2017 (bottom).
After judge set his bail at just $1,000
Faces maximum of 29 years to life in prison
By Ted Asregadoo, PIO, Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office
Martinez, California — Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint charging 40-year-old Thomas John Iovenitti with the murder of his wife, Alisha Iovenitti, on October 23, 2026, in the City of Concord.
The complaint alleges that Iovenitti personally used a knife in the killing. At the time of the alleged homicide, he was out of custody on bail in a pending domestic violence case. That case (No. 01-26-02665) arose from an incident on May 9, 2026, and Iovenitti was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, corporal injury to a spouse, and false imprisonment. (See 01-26-02665 – Charging Document 051326)
On May 19th, over the objection of the District Attorney’s Office, a judge set Iovenitti’s bail at $1,000. The court also issued stay-away orders barring him from contacting his wife or returning to the family’s residence.
In addition to the murder charge, the new complaint filed today charges Iovenitti with three other felonies: dissuading a witness from reporting a crime on October 23rd, and assault with a deadly weapon (a knife) and corporal injury to a spouse, related to an earlier incident on May 9th. (See related article)
The complaint also includes five misdemeanor counts, including a violation of a court order and four counts of child endangerment. Three of the child endangerment counts relate to October 23rd, and one relates to the May 9th incident.
According to the 01-26-05187 – Charging Document 102726, the couple’s children included a son age 10 and twin boy and girl age 8.
Iovenitti is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 pm today, October 28th in Department 6 at the Contra Costa County Superior Court Annex in Martinez. He remains in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility without bail. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 29 years to life in prison.
According to Mylife.com, Iovenitti was living in Pleasant Hill, previously lived in Antioch and has also been known as Tommy. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has 17 years of experience in the produce department with the current position of Produce FM overseeing “district 10 produce operations and merchandising for Safeway.” However, according to his profile on Bold.pro, Iovenitti has worked for Safeway since 2002 and as the Produce Assistant Sales Manager since August 2017.
Case No. 01-26-05187 | The People of the State of California v. Thomas John Iovenitti
Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.
I am so enraged. I woke up to this story this morning, and I am sick to my stomach. How do these men keep getting released with nothing more than a slap on the wrist?
Before my ex got clean and sober, he was one of the men they would let walk out the door with nothing more than a pending court date. Today, he’s working incredibly hard to become a domestic violence counselor, hoping to help men recognize and change the behaviors that, left unchecked, can turn them into the very monsters we read about in stories like this. People can change, and accountability and intervention matter. But we cannot keep gambling with women’s lives while we wait for that change to happen.
In my own last relationship, I couldn’t even get a warrant issued, despite advocating for myself and repeatedly contacting the DA’s office to try to move my case forward. This wasn’t a situation where I had no evidence. My ex had suffocated and strangled me with his hands. I had visible injuries around my mouth and neck, and CSI came out and photographed them. I did everything I could to get someone to take what happened to me seriously.
And still, I struggled to get the system to act.
Something has GOT to give.
There are too many children growing up without their mothers because the men who were supposed to love, protect, and cherish those women became the very people they needed protection from. Too many women are left fighting for their lives while trying to convince a system that’s supposed to protect them that the danger is real.
This story has really messed me up today. I don’t know Alisha personally, but I’m going to speak her name today because her story deserves to be told. Her life mattered. Her children and loved ones deserved more time with her. And her death deserves more than a headline that people scroll past before moving on with their day.
Alisha cannot become just another woman whose death gets added to a growing list of preventable tragedies while the decisions that preceded it go unquestioned.
If prosecutors objected to a $1,000 bail decision in a case involving allegations of serious violence against a spouse, then we deserve to know what happened in that courtroom. We deserve to know what risks were identified, what information was considered, and how that decision was reached.
I’m not saying every case is the same, and I’m not saying people cannot change. I’ve seen firsthand that they can. But there is a difference between believing in someone’s capacity to change and ignoring the danger they may pose while that change has yet to happen.
A woman’s safety cannot depend on whether someone decides to take her fear seriously. Her life cannot be worth less than the benefit of the doubt given to the man accused of threatening it.
We cannot keep asking women to be brave enough to report abuse and then leave them feeling as though they are fighting the system alone.
I am tired of women having to prove, over and over again, that they are in danger. I’m tired of the children left behind. I’m tired of the funerals, the unanswered questions, and the families left wondering whether their loved ones would still be alive if someone had simply taken the danger seriously.
Speak Alisha’s name. Ask the hard questions. Demand accountability. Because the purpose of a justice system should be to protect human life, not to wait until another woman loses hers before everyone realizes how serious the danger was.