Domestic Violence Headlines for the Week of Dec. 29

Editor’s Note:This will be DomesticShelters.org’s final weekly news recap for the foreseeable future. Reporting on domestic violence is not just about documenting harm—it’s about visibility, accountability and survivor safety. Reader support makes that reporting possible. Please consider donating to help sustain this work.

NFL’s Stefon Diggs Accused of Strangulation, Team Says They Support Him

Stefon Diggs, wide receiver for the NFL’s New England Patriots, has been accused of striking and strangling a woman. Diggs made a virtual court appearance Tuesday morning in Dedham District Court where the 32-year-old denied the accusations. 

According to the police report, the victim, Diggs’ personal chef, says she confronted the football player on Dec. 2 about payment she was due. That’s when Diggs attacked her in her private bedroom of his home. 

The police report reads: “She alleges that the male then smacked her across the face. She said that she tried to push him away. The male then tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck. She said that he was behind her with his arm wrapped around her. She said that she did feel like she had trouble breathing and that she felt like she could have blacked out. She said that as she tried to pry his arm away, he tightened his grip. At that point, the male threw her onto the bed.”

Strangulation, where oxygen and blood flow are cut off to the brain, is one of the deadliest forms of abuse. Even a few seconds of strangulation can lead to possible lifelong psychological and neurological effects, as well as the possibility of delayed death. A victim may not always lose consciousness, and no visible marks may appear after strangulation, but it doesn’t lessen the severity of the assault. Survivors are encouraged to always seek medical attention after any length of strangulation. 

Diggs’ assistant allegedly offered the victim a payout if she signed a nondisclosure agreement after his assault, which the victim turned down. The woman says she delayed reporting the attack to police until Dec. 16 knowing Diggs’ celebrity status. Victims of abusers in positions of power often face unfair scrutiny, being thrust into the spotlight as soon as they report. The public may idolize the accused and, not wanting to believe the celebrity could have any possible faults, turn the blame to the victim instead. 

Diggs will be arraigned on a felony charge of strangulation/suffocation on Jan. 23. Meanwhile, the Patriots released a statement saying they supported Diggs. 

“Stefon has informed the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Stefon. We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, and the NFL as necessary.”

This comes despite the NFL vowing to take domestic violence charges more seriously after the 2014 arrest of former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice. Rice was captured on a viral surveillance video punching his then-fiancé and rendering her unconscious inside a hotel elevator. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced plans that the league would enforce stricter penalties for domestic violence offenses by its players, the staff would undergo more education around domestic violence and they would financially support domestic violence nonprofits. 

According to a report by ESPN, at least 55 NFL players were arrested for domestic violence from 2015 through 2023, a number the NFL claims is “half” of what they experienced before implementing their new policies. However, the number may not account for those players who were arrested for domestic violence but whose charges were then dropped, such as Quinshon Judkins. The 21-year-old Cleveland Browns player allegedly punched his girlfriend back in July but ESPN reported in August that prosecutors declined to pursue charges because the assault, which happened in a car, “… was not captured on any video surveillance,” read the decline memorandum. 

Source: masslive.com

Alabama Pastor Allegedly Shot by Wife in Self-Defense 

Last week in Dale County, Ala., a local pastor who was facing domestic violence charges was fatally shot by a woman, said to be his wife, with whom he shares two children. The woman has not been charged, indicating that authorities believe she was acting in self-defense. 

Pastor Da’Quarius Green, 31, of Elba Zion Missionary Baptist Church died on Dec. 23. He was charged with three misdemeanor counts of domestic violence last year against his wife who also had a protection order served against him. The woman claims he struck her while pregnant. The charges were dropped when the survivor refused to testify. 

It's estimated that in up to 80 percent of domestic violence cases, survivors recant their testimony, often because of manipulation by an abuser from behind bars. Abusers will use tactics such as threats of escalating abuse, promises of change in the future, will remind the survivor that they depend on the abuser for money or threaten to deport the victim if they don’t recant. Learn more about the 5 stages of recantation in “How Abusers Coerce Recantation.”

Despite the circumstances, comments on the church’s Facebook page underneath the announcement of the pastor’s death were mostly in support of him: “RIP Pastor what a good guy” and “I am completely devastated…this man was amazing.” One comment read, “Will the church take responsibility for forcing couples to stay together when they should divorce? …I pray we get it together before more [people] wind up dead.”

Some religious leaders still preach marriage as a sacred union that, when broken, is seen as a violation of God’s will. Others teach that a woman’s body belongs to her husband and that unconditional obedience is a requirement of strong faith. These beliefs can create conditions in which husbands are able to assert power and control over their wives, including through abuse. Learn more in “Does God Really Want Survivors to Stay with Abusers?”

Source: WTVY.com

Las Vegas Man Kills Parents, Claims He Couldn’t Take Abuse Anymore

Two days after Christmas, a 27-year-old Las Vegas man who claimed he “couldn’t take it anymore” killed his parents with a baseball bat. Adrian Bailey called police around 11:30 p.m. on the 27th and told dispatchers he needed to be taken in for murder. He asked officers to kill him on sight, saying he was a danger to himself and others. He told dispatch he had “had enough abuse.”

Police found two victims on scene, Roger and Kristine Bailey, Adrian’s parents. Roger was pronounced dead on the scene and Kristine was taken to the hospital where she died. Adrian was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. A bail was not set. 

While it is not known what, if any abuse was perpetuated by the victims in this case, it is known that abuse can be passed down from one generation to the next. Intergenerational violence refers to violence or abuse that starts with parents and is then repeated by the children in adulthood, though typically in a relationship setting. 

“One of the things we know in children who grow up with trauma … trauma without work is very difficult to get rid of. It’s easily repeated in the next generation,” says Dr. Sandra Stith, distinguished professor at Kansas State University and a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in “Intergenerational Violence: How to Break the Cycle.”

Self-defense is also a tricky defense for survivors because it doesn’t always come in the moment abuse is happening. Sometimes, survivors reach a breaking point after years of abuse and what may look like homicide is actually a form of self-preservation from continued abuse. Historically, women who kill their abusive partners in self-defense receive longer prison sentences than abusers who murder their female partners. 

Source: 8newsnow.com

Florida Man Kills Wife, Shoots Teenage Stepdaughter, After Football Game Argument

A Polk County, Fla., man fatally shot his wife and seriously injured his stepdaughter after an argument broke out following an NFL game on Sunday. After Crystal Kennedy asked her husband Jason, 47, to turn off the TV following the game, an inebriated Jason apparently got a gun. That’s when Crystal instructed her 12-year-old son to call 911. When the boy heard gunshots, he ran next door to the neighbor’s house. 

Police found Jason had killed his wife and shot his 13-year-old stepdaughter in the face and shoulder. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. A 1-year-old child shared by the couple was found in a crib unharmed.  

Jason fled the scene after the assault, contacted a relative and told them he had done something terrible. His body was found at his father’s property. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators told local media that a search of the home turned up a note from Crystal urging her husband to seek help for his return to substance abuse. While alcohol and drug misuse can escalate intimate partner violence, they are not the cause. A common misnomer is that abusers have no control over their actions and “fly off the handle.” Advocates and experts often warn the opposite is true. Abusers are very much in control. In domestic violence cases, homicide is rarely a single, sudden act. It is typically the end point of repeated abuse that has been happening long before.

Source: Winnipegsun.com