I flagged it. I assume other people did too. That's usually what's happened when a story like this gets buried.
You know as well as me that flags are seriously overpowered, particularly flags from long-term users like us. I wouldn't disagree with flagging this if the front page was drowned with these stories, or if this was a particularly contentious source, but given that it's a straightforward report of the resolution of an event relevant to the tech scene, it seems reasonable to let it have some attention even if you don't personally like it.
In other words, don't use your flags to remove all stories that you're not interested in from HN - use it to remove stories that are just not right for here. I don't see how you can argue this story is one of the latter.
* Nobody knew who this guy was before he beat up his girlfriend.
* Virtually nobody on HN knew anything about his company before he beat up his girlfriend.
* There is no interesting or intellectually gratifying conversation to be had about a guy beating up his girlfriend. It's a valence issue.
This is one of those stories where the only "discussion" is going to end up being people trying to one-up each other on how authentically they can appear outraged.
It's weird, I feel as though this story has gained enough attention that its conclusion ought to be acknowledged, however whilst I imagine that other people might want to read the story, I personally don't. Without wishing to deny the importance of this story to the people involved, it's not really what I come to Hacker News for.
I also flagged it. No redeeming value for this story or associated commentary in the context of HN.