this is "nightline." >> tonight, returning to puerto rico one year after the horror of hurricane maria. >> hola. >> signs of recovery. >> look at this. a brand new roof. >> reminders of death and devastation. >> she has no house. she is lost. >> and questions about the future. >> what are we going to change so that this doesn't happen again? >> our linda lopez heads back for the sing easrit her sister. plus, minimum sentence, maximum outrage. behind the laughter. >> hey, it's turk and j.d. and j.d. >> a comedy star stabbing his ex-girlfriend more than 20 times. >> he pulled out his hand and just started stabbing me like

bang, bang, bang. >> tonight, out of prison, serving the minimum sentence. the survivor afraid for her life. >> i'll always have to watch my back for the rest of my life. but first, the "nightline" 5. e" 5.

good evening.

thank you for joining us. it's been a tough year for puerto rico. the island trying to recover from hurricane maria. homes and lives destroyed. made worse by manmade missteps. now signs of recovery along with worries for the future. here's abc's linda lopez. ♪ >> hola. hi. how are you? linda. how are you? it's nice to see you. you have a roof. >> reporter: for carmen torres gonzalez this home in san lorenzo puerto rico is an answer to a year of prayers.

the roof, the ceiling, the walls, everything completely intact, completely rebuilt. a far cry from last september when the house was razed to the ground. when hurricane maria collided against the island with winds of more than 150 miles per hour. we met her six months ago when more than 20 years of her life had been reduced to nearly nothing. its roots laid bare. >> the living room. the kitchen. i want my house back. >> reporter: now her home is her castle. you have walls and a roof and your family. even as the island slowly rebuilds, the scars left by hurricane maria are still deeply felt throughout this u.s. territory. nearly 45,000 still live under tarps. only meant to be a temporary fix. and of course the damage you can't see.

the wounds that cannot heal. the many lives lost. >> we can't let them die. we need help, all the help we can get. please. >> reporter: from the beginning the death toll has been controversial. >> what is your death count as of this moment? 17? >> 16. certified. >> 16 people certified. >> reporter: that official number went up to 64. but last december "the new york times" put it much higher, at more than 1,000. and just last month a study from george washington university concluded that nearly 3,000 people died by causes directly related to the hurricane and its aftermath. >> we were counting deaths that mate have been caused by the storm in an indirect way such as the transportation breakdown, power going out, inability of people to get their medication, or even the kind of work stress that might be involved with having to go long distances to get food and water and fuel for your family. >> i think we did a fantastic

job in puerto rico. we're still helping puerto rico. >> reporter: some question whether those indirect deaths should count in the official toll, including the president, who tweeted, "3,000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit puerto rico" and falsely accused democrats of inflating the death toll "in order to make me look as bad as possible." >> there are a lot of blue tarps -- >> reporter: but on the ground survivors like rebecca morales say the death of loved ones like that of her brother-in-law should most definitely be counted. he didn't pass away, he didn't die the day the hurricane happened. >> no. but he was already sick and he was a kidney patient. >> reporter: dialysis was what was keeping morales's brother-in-law alive. when the power went out in his home town of san sebastian the local center's dialysis machine failed. >> how long did he go after the

hurricane without being able to get his dialysis? >> i think it was two to three weeks. >> reporter: within months his health declined and in april he passed away. >> do you believe if he had proper care sooner he would have survived? >> yes. that's what i strongly believe. he could be here doing this interview and talking to you. my sister is coping. he was her life. they were married for 28 years. she has no house. she has no husband. she is lost. >> reporter: san juan's mayor carmen yulin cruz says she's heard too many of these stories. we saw the president react in a way where he said the numbers may not be credible. what do you think? as a public official here in puerto rico. what do you think? >> why did he think he was going to gain by continuing to politicize this?

this is trump's katrina. lives were lost on the president's watch. and that will follow him forever. >> reporter: and one year later mayor cruz says the road to >> so is the island, is san juan ready for another cat 5 or cat 4 storm? >> no. we're not ready for a cat 1. >> reporter: what still needs to be rebuilt, what needs fixing? >> roads, bridges. in san juan alone between 2,600 and 3,000 roofs. schools. almost everything. it's almost as if we've just woken up from a severe trauma. construction must happen. but also what are we going to change so that this doesn't happen again? >> reporter: despite all the challenges signs of hope sprouting throughout the island. mother nature showing her majesty once again. and infrastructure inching back.

like this bridge that had been swept away. >> it was completely destroyed. and we saw people right after the hurricane trying to get across the water, hanging on to a rope that was stretched across. and now it's fully open and completely in use. >> they're all blue. >> reporter: this is my second trip back to puerto rico since maria. this island a place my family has long called home. eight months ago i joined my sister jennifer and her boyfriend alex to witness the devastation firsthand. >> you'll do what you can and you know -- you hope it's going to help. >> reporter: outside of old san juan we met corterio torres, his house destroyed. >> the home of this man still with a hole in the roof. we've got one of the blue fema tarps covering this opening right here. he has no front door. his door's blown off. it's actually leaning right here on the walls of his home. thanks to donations -- don porfirio was able to rebuild

his roof. oh, my gosh. a vaulted roof anyway. it looks amazing. this was all gone. all gone. and now it's rebuilt. >> reporter: and under her new room torres gonzalez says she's beginning to see promises of healing to come. she said they have a home that keeps them dry, where they can eat, where they can sleep, and they have their health and she's super grateful for all that. >> reporter: for this part of america their future depends on their story not being forgotten. for "nightline" i'm linda lopez, in san juan, puerto rico. coming up, the comedy star convicted of stabbing his ex-girlfriend. the survivor's fear and frustration. next. next. take us downtown, waze.

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you may remember shelley malil from his role in the movie "the 40-year-old virgin" and as a rising comedy star. but then he showed his dark side. convicted of stabbing his ex-girlfriend more than 20 times. here's abc's amy robach with a survivor's story. >> reporter: kendra beebe is on a mission, outraged after the man who stabbed her 23 times was released from prison after serving just the minimum sentence. a new chapter in a nightmare saga that began for kendra in 2007 when she met shelley malil and thought he was just a funny guy. >> we started long distance

dating. i was in san diego, and he was in l.a. he seemed really fun. >> reporter: an actor with a supporting role in tv series "scrubs" and the hit comedy "40-year-old virgin," shelley made a name for himself as a man with a sense of humor. >> you are a very unkind man. >> go inside! >> this is not professional. >> reporter: months into their relationship kendra would soon find that the mr. funny guy exterior shielded a much darker side. >> there had been an argument. i quit communicating with him. and that's what led up to him showing up at my doorstep. >> reporter: how did things escalate? >> he looked disheveled, and he had a handbehind his back. and i felt very scared. >> reporter: despite the warning bells, kendra went to give shelley a hug to defuse the situation. >> he pulled out his hand and just started stabbing me like one, two, three and -- >> reporter: did you know what was happening? >> no. i felt like oh, my god, this did not just happen.

i felt in shock and pain and actually, i didn't know but at the time he had punctured one of my lungs. >> reporter: shelley chased kendra throughout the house, stabbing her 23 times. >> he was very methodical. he wasn't screaming. he wasn't -- he was like cold and calculated. like he was there to get a job done. >> reporter: how was it that shelley stopped stabbing you? >> because my neighbor intervened and really he got tired. >> reporter: shelley managed to slip away during the chaos but was arrested the next day. the case went to trial, and kendra did everything in her power to make sure her attempted murderer would stay behind bars. testifying and reliving the horrifying ordeal in court. >> i stand before the defendant today alive, despite plunging a butcher knife into my body 23 times in an attempt to murder me. >> reporter: is this a

revictimization? >> i absolutely have felt revictimized by the legal system. you relive it. you know, you have -- you wake up in the middle of the night, and it's happening right here right now. it doesn't matter how much time has passed. >> reporter: she thought the worst was over when shelley was sentenced to 12 years to life in prison for attempted murder. >> from this day on he will not be known as a promising young actor. >> reporter: only to be plunged back into the nightmare when the parole board announced last month that shelley would be released after serving the minimum sentence. >> i feel very concerned. i feel scared. i will always have to watch my back for the rest of my life. >> reporter: the governor of california requested that the parole board reevaluate their decision because he believed that shelley remains unsuitable for parole. >> well, they said that they felt he had a low risk of reoffending. i guess they have a crystal ball that we don't have. and i've been doing this for 42 years. i can tell you, the system has

not changed enough to protect the rights of victims. >> reporter: the california department of corrections sent us the transcript of the hearing, telling "nightline" it shows that the panel felt they did accurately and well explore and articulate the reasons for finding suitability for parole and unanimously granted shelley parole. he was released yesterday. >> i think we need to do even more. we need a criminal justice system that recognizes the needs of victims even more than it does now. >> reporter: according to a survey done by the cdc, one in four women have faced domestic violence by an intimate partner and far too often women are afraid to speak out. >> the most dangerous time for a woman in a violent relationship is when she discloses the abuse and when she begins to separate from the abuser. because that's when the control intensifies, including ultimately as horrific incidents as the one we're talking about here. >> reporter: despite her fears,

kendra hopes her story will help give voice to domestic violence victims and create a system that will better listen to and protect women. what do you see when you look in the mirror? >> every day i am reminded when i look at my chin. it doesn't have to be a bad thing. this is just my body. i'm a lot more. my spirit is strong. i got a second chance when so many women don't. and so i feel very strongly that i need to help be a part of the change. >> our thanks to amy. and we'll be right back. keep those shrimp comin'! endless shrimp is back at red lobster. with all the shrimp you want, any way you want them. try delicious creations like new crunchy fiesta shrimp

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