Domestic Violence Headlines for the Week of May 19

Another week brings more devastating headlines from around the U.S. showing that men have not slowed down in their ongoing pursuit for power and control over women.

Woman Murdered by Ex-Boyfriend After Police Search her Apartment

On Sunday, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office responded to the apartment of 22-year-old Kayelyn Ford after she says her ex-boyfriend was trying to get in using an old key. Officers searched her apartment but didn’t find anyone. However, they missed the fact that the apartment was apparently surrounded by a wooded area ideal for hiding violent perpetrators. 

Ford told officers she would go stay with a friend. After they left, she exited her apartment around 3 a.m.—that's when her ex-boyfriend Brandon Bell, 24, appeared out of the wooded area and assaulted her, fatally shooting Ford. 

Not surprisingly, Bell had a history of abuse prior to the murder. He was arrested for domestic violence in April after attacking Ford, but was later released on a $1,000 bond. Ford was given a protection order a few days later, accusing Bell of deflating the tires on her car and trying to hack into her social media accounts. Statistics show that 61 percent of female stalking victims are stalked by a current or former intimate partner, yet less than half of these victims report the stalking to police. Stalking often escalates to more dangerous tactics of power and control and sometimes, as in Ford’s case, homicide. Stalking as a tactic of abuse should always be taken seriously, say domestic violence advocates. 

While orders of protection are an important first step in deterring abusers, they do not always do what their name denotes. A National Institute of Justice study found that about half of orders are violated in some way. While they do allow survivors legal recourse if an abusive partner continues to harass them after a separation, a good number of abusers intent on hurting their victims are not deterred by the threat of arrest. 

Survivors who are at the highest risk of homicide from an abuser are those whose abusive partners have access to firearms, who have made previous threats to kill the survivor and/or her children, who have a history of strangulation or stalking, and those whom the survivor has recently separated from.

For more information, read “Are Restraining Orders Really the Best Option?”

Source: WAFB9

Reality Show Contestant Cashel Barnett Arrested for Strangling Ex-Girlfriend

Cashel Barnett, whose claim to fame is that he appeared on the first season of Love Island in 2019, was arrested Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah, more than a month after he reportedly strangled his ex-girlfriend in front of their one-year-old child. The survivor told police that she tried to calm Barnett during an argument while their child was, but that he picked her up by her neck using both hands before slamming her onto a bed. She alleges Barnett strangled her with “continuous pressure” and that she “was unable to breathe and her vision went blurry.” She says he then slapped her in the face and said, “You’re fine.” 

Barnett, 34, has been charged with felony aggravated assault, felony domestic violence in the presence of a child and two counts of misdemeanor assault. The survivor says Barnett has previously threatened to kill her. Strangulation is notoriously the highest predictor of future homicide by an abusive partner. And the injuries resulting from even a few seconds of strangulation can be long-lasting. The survivor in Barnett’s strangulation reported to police that she experienced difficulty breathing, a raspy voice, coughing, trouble swallowing, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, agitation, amnesia, memory loss, visual changes and headache. Strangulation prevents blood flow to the brain and can also lead to a TBI, or traumatic brain injury, the side effects of which can include cognitive difficulties, seizures and even delayed death.

It's not known if Barnett’s victim sought medical attention, but experts advise all survivors of strangulation seek immediate medical attention, even those who did not lose consciousness or who don’t experience negative side effects directly after strangulation.

Source: NBC News

Police Officer Arrested for Attacking Pregnant Girlfriend, Tries to Get Her to Recant

Being a police officer didn’t deter Timothy Skaggs, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from striking and strangling his pregnant girlfriend after she confronted him about his infidelity. Skaggs, 40, was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, false imprisonment, two counts of domestic battery, two counts of witness tampering and two counts of sudden snatching with a firearm or weapon. In a staggering 24 to 40 percent of police officer families, the officer commits domestic violence. Police officers are especially dangerous as abusers because they often know how to manipulate the system and often threaten the survivor that they won’t be believed by fellow officers if they come forward. 

The survivor, Skaggs girlfriend of 2 ½ years, says he struck her multiple times before strangling her. The police noted the strangulation was “not with extreme force.” However, any number of seconds of cutting off blood flow to the brain can result in long-term injuries which can show up as late as 48 hours after the incident. Bill Smock, MD, police surgeon (someone who conducts forensic examinations of victims and perpetrators for the police department) is the Medical Director for the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention. He says all victims of strangulation should be offered a forensic exam by responding law enforcement, something Skaggs’ victim was not offered. 

“Forensic nurses can go into much more detail, looking for injuries in places where law enforcement cannot,” says Smock. Other injuries on a survivor’s body can support their claim of domestic violence or assault, he adds. Most victims also need imaging of their neck at a hospital to rule out internal vascular injuries. To learn more, read “What Law Enforcement Should Know About Strangulation.”

Skaggs’ attack happened while the woman’s children were in another room. The survivor was able to escape and call 911 while Skaggs fled the scene, still in full police uniform. It’s unclear how Skaggs was apprehended, but later, in a phone call from jail monitored by police, Skaggs pleaded with the survivor to recant her statement, a common coercive tactic by abusers. 

“I am going to lose my job,” he told her. “Call them now. Negate everything. Say you were drinking.”

Studies found that in 80 percent of domestic violence cases that reach the court system, survivors have recanted or refused prosecution, often because of the manipulation of their abusive partners from behind bars. Learn about the five stages of recantation in “How Abusers Coerce Recantation.”

Skaggs is being held on a $32,000 bond and has been ordered by a judge to cease contact with the survivor, not to return to her apartment and surrender any guns in his possession. He has been placed on paid administrative leave by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. 

Source: Local10.com