Domestic Violence Headlines for the Week of Oct. 27

Survivors Rally in North Carolina to Demand Better from Family Court

A mom whose son was killed by his abusive father when he was just three years old was among the advocates who gathered at the North Carolina State Capitol Wednesday to demand lawmakers provide better protections in family court. Jesse’s Law, House Bill 896, known as Jesse’s Law after Christy Melvin’s young son who was murdered after the court awarded shared custody to Melvin’s abusive ex-husband, would call for increased training in domestic violence and abuse for court judges and other personnel. The law passed the House in May with bipartisan support and advocates are now looking at state senators to do likewise

“[It’s] to protect every child, every family that is going through these situations. I don't want to continue to hear about children being murdered because they are being given to their abuser," Melvin told local media.

More than 1,000 children were killed by a parent amid custody disputes between 2008 and 2023, according to research from the Center for Judicial Excellence. This includes 2-year-old Kyra, 15-month-old Prince, and 4-year-old Greyson, among so many others. The study found that abusers often use their children as tools to intimidate and control the other parent—behavior that tends to escalate after separation. For abusers, separation represents a loss of power and control. In response, they turn to the means still available to them—and tragically, in many cases, those means are their shared children.

Source: WRAL.com

Nebraska Man Arrested for First-Degree Murder After Girlfriend Died with Injuries to Her Neck

In Lincoln, Neb., a man released from the hospital on Saturday was promptly taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder. Last Thursday, Oct. 23, police were called to the home of Tracy Henman, 43, by her family who were concerned after they hadn’t heard from her in two days. Inside, they found Henman dead with visible injuries to her neck. Joshua Meyers, 40, confirmed to be in a relationship with the woman, was also in the home suffering what police called a medical episode, and was taken to the hospital. It is now suspected that he killed Henman. 

This is the Lincoln Police Department’s fourth domestic violence-related murder of the year. The three previous ended in murder-suicide. 

“We’ve also rescued two women from nearly experiencing the same fate in just the last month,” Assistant Police Chief Jason Stille told local media. “These women were mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, partners, friends and colleagues. None of them deserved to lose their life at the hands of someone they loved. Remember, violence is a choice by the offender, and it is never the victim’s fault.”

There are red flags that suggest an abuser may be more likely to commit homicide. These include strangulation, which Henman’s neck injuries may be a sign of. Abusers strangle their partners as a tactic of abuse to show they have the power to kill them. Forty-three percent of homicide victims by an intimate partner had suffered a non-fatal strangulation before their murder, according to one study. 

“The majority of women murdered in domestic violence homicides are shot, so everyone thinks [prevention] is about getting the guns. But strangulation is the highest predictor of a homicide with a gun,” says Casey Gwinn, JD, president of the Alliance for HOPE International.

Source: 1011now.com

Air Force Base Worker Kills Co-Worker, Wife and Himself

Two Wright-Patterson Air Force Base employees were murdered over the weekend by the husband of one of the victims, who then took his own life. Early Saturday morning, Jacob Prichard, 34, went to the Huber Heights, Ohio, home of 1st Lt. Jaime Gustitus, 25, who lived alone, and killed her. He then returned home and murdered his wife, 33-year-old Jaymee Prichard, and put her body in the trunk of his car. Jacob drove to a municipal building parking lot, opened the trunk of his car so officers could find his wife’s body, and then took his own life. 

The relationship between Jacob and Gustitus is unknown, only that they worked together on the Air Force base. 

The Pritchard’s have three young children. A meal train has been started to help the family at this time. 

It’s not clear if there was domestic violence present before the murder-suicide, but there are warning signs that indicate an abusive partner is escalating toward homicide. One of them is the abuser’s own threats of suicide. Often, these threats increase when the survivor has indicated they plan to leave. 

“When abusers threaten to kill themselves, there is often a real suicidality there,” says renowned domestic violence expert, researcher and author Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD. “They are indeed desperate when and if she [the survivor] leaves. Somewhere around 38 to 40 percent of abusers who murder their partners kill themselves afterwards.”

When domestic violence is present in the relationship, it is not the survivor’s responsibility to save the abuser, but their threat of suicide should be taken seriously. It can mean imminent danger for both parties, as well as others close to the couple such as children, other family members or even coworkers. 

Learn more at “What to Do If an Abuser Threatens Suicide.”

Anyone with information regarding the double murder-suicide is asked to contact Lt. Jason Moore of the Miami County Sheriff’s Office at 937-440-6085 ext: 3991.

Sources: Dayton Daily News, ABC6 

New Hampshire Wants to Criminalize Parents in Custody Disputes

New Hampshire is looking to criminalize parents for violating custody orders, a move that some say could be used by abusive parents to torture protective parents in the midst of custody disputes. 

Republicans on the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted to recommend House Bill 194 to pass, advocating that harsher punishments are needed to deter what they call unfair behavior. However, those opposed, such as Rep. Buzz Scherr, a Portsmouth Democrat and professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, would turn civil disputes into criminal cases unnecessarily.

“I just don’t think it’s a positive thing to start to criminalize some of this behavior,” Scherr said on Wednesday. “It’ll make things worse; it won’t make things better.” 

Advocates who’ve seen child custody become weaponized in the case of domestic violence worry that an abuser could use the system to trick the protective parent, for instance, changing the location of the custody drop-off and then reporting the parent absent from the original meeting spot. Or, switching a custody time with the protective parent only to report the custody violation to the court. Advocates warn that all custody matters should be communicated in writing, preferably through apps like Our Family Wizard or Talking Parents where there are time stamps to show when the other party reviews the message. And, copies of the messages can be sent automatically to a third party, such as a lawyer or advocate. To learn more read, “Ask Amanda: How Do I Co-Parent With an Abuser?”

HB 194 would create a three-strike system for those who defy custody orders. The first two violations would result in a $500 fine with the third penalty incurring a Class B felony, which could result in up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $4,000. Considering that almost all cases of domestic violence include financial abuse in which the abuser restricts the survivor’s access to shared finances or withholds finances upon the survivor leaving the fines alone could be enough to devastate the survivor. 

Rep. David Love, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the bill helps enable parental rights and alleviate the effects of a “broken home” on children by incentivizing parents to stick to their shared custody agreements. 

“Parental rights are not just legal formalities. They’re an essential in the emotional and psychological well-being of both the child and parent,” he told local media. 

Source: Newsfromthestates.com