The
news of Sept. 2nd hit Gwendolyn Turner like a ton of bricks. Tasha Thomas, a
woman she knew, had been shot and killed outside the University of Little
Scholars daycare in Whitehaven. Thomas’ estranged husband had instigated the
deadly encounter on the parking lot where Thomas worked.
“I was breathless and speechless to
learn that another woman had become a victim of domestic violence,” said
Turner, who’d suffered verbal, emotional, mental, sexual and physical abuse off
and on for nearly 20 years.
While
friends, relatives and the Memphis community were mourning Thomas at her
funeral on Monday (Sept. 8), another woman was shot. This time the triggerman
was a former boyfriend who reportedly had stalked and accosted her on several
occasions.
Torhonda
Cathey, 33, was shot multiple times in a Target parking lot in East Memphis.
She was taken to Regional One Health, where she later died. Ronald Ellis, a
Memphis firefighter, fled the scene. He is wanted for first-degree murder.
 |
Gwendolyn Turner, who works at the Family Safety Center
of Memphis and Shelby County, assists a client with an Order
of Protection. (Photo: Wiley Henry) |
The
violence directed at Thomas and Cathey is deeply troubling and all too common,
Turner said. It is a reflection of a persistent scourge that gained national
attention after a video surfaced recently showing former Baltimore Ravens
running back Raymell Mourice “Ray” Rice knocking out his then-fiancée, and now
wife, in an elevator in February.
Turner
escaped her nearly 20-year ordeal, but other women aren’t as fortunate. She was
appalled by the video. So was Vernetta Eddleman, director of Client Services at
the Family Safety Center of Memphis and Shelby County.
“It’s
fortunate that it was caught on tape,” said Eddleman. “For so many women, you
don’t see the premeditation of domestic violence. We saw what went on.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a tape for women who experience this every day.”
Just
like Eddleman, Turner, also an employee at the Family Safety Center, is working
to end domestic violence. “My life’s misery has become my life’s mission and
ministry,” said Turner, who speaks out against domestic violence as the
center’s unofficial ambassador.
The
Family Safety Center often is the first point of contact for domestic violence
victims and hurting families. It is a conglomerate of civil, criminal, health
and social services that are available to help the victims and reduce incidents
of domestic violence.
“The
Memphis Police Department, the sheriff’s department and the district attorney
are right there to help,” said Turner, noting that 30 partner agencies are
available within the center, including legal services. And all services are
free.
‘Order of Protection won’t stop a
bullet’
An
Order of Protection is a legal tool designed to keep the abuser at bay. Tasha
Thomas had filed three trying to end the abuse that Charles Thomas was accused
of meting out. But the orders didn’t stop him from gunning her down.
Two days earlier, Tasha Thomas was
in the Raleigh community attending services at Golden Gate Cathedral, where
Billy Rivers and the Angelic Voices of Faith (BRAVOF) were celebrating their
35th reunion concert. Turner, BRAVOF’s co-founder, announced that evening that
the group had a new foundation to combat domestic violence.
An Order of Protection hinges on
whether victims such as Thomas can prove to the judicial commissioner that
abuse has indeed taken place. And while Thomas’ case met that standard, it is
unclear whether Cathey had filed an Order of Protection against Ellis. Records
do show that she’d reported several incidents of stalking to MPD and that her
ex-boyfriend tried to run her off the road several times.
In all cases where a permanent Order
of Protection is granted, the alleged abuser is ordered not to have contact
with the victim for one year. Also, after signing an affidavit, he or she is
not allowed to own, possess, or carry a firearm.
Charles Thomas was in possession of
a firearm. He took his wife’s life and turned the gun on himself, leaving a
community on edge wondering how he was able to get to Tasha.
So questions abound: Is the Order of
Protection worth the paper it’s written on? And can domestic violence really be
stopped?
According to the Tennessee District
Attorneys General Conference in Nashville, the victim of domestic violence is
not safe just because an Order of Protection is granted. After one is filed,
the victim – in most cases – may still need a safe place to stay.
“It’s good in all 50 states and it’s
in the national database,” Eddleman added. “The abuser can be arrested, but the
Order of Protection won’t stop a bullet.”
Between 2,400 and 2,500 Orders of
Protection were issued in Memphis and Shelby County last year. The laws,
however, aren’t stringent enough to keep the domestic abuser in jail after he
or she is arrested, Eddleman said.
“For simple assault domestic violence
is 11 months and 29 days. Abusers spend 30 percent of that time and most of
them get diversion, or probation, and don’t go to jail at all. They need to
strengthen the laws.”
‘A lot of work to do
in the
community’
Between
two million and four million women are battered each year in the United States.
There are two thousand deaths each year as a result of domestic violence. And
at least 25 percent of battered women commit suicide.
Although the Memphis Shelby County
Crime Commission’s Operation “Safe Community” crime statistics showed a
decrease in domestic violence crimes between January and July, the statistics
are still alarming and shouldn’t be overlooked.
The following are additional facts
for domestic violence in the state of Tennessee between 2011-2013, according to
the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation:
•
There were 247,069 incidents of domestic violence offenses as reported by all
law enforcement agencies in the state.
• Of
that number, females (71.9 percent) were three times more likely to be
victimized than males (28.1 percent).
•
99.2 percent of domestic violence victims were either white (57.6 percent) or
African-American (41.6 percent).
• By
race and sex: Black females (31 percent), white females (41 percent), black
males (11 percent) and white males (17 percent).
•
From 2011 to 2013, victims were six times more likely to be abused by a spouse
than an ex-spouse in domestic offenses.
•
Domestic violence resulted in 288 murder/non-negligent homicides during this
three-year period.
So can
domestic violence be stopped altogether?
“We
may not be able to eliminate it, but we can reduce it significantly. We just
have a lot of work to do in the community,” said Eddleman, adding that the
Family Safety Center enacts a safety plan for victims seeking a way out.
Domestic violence is a pattern of
controlling behavior that is often physical, sexual or psychological and
committed by an intimate partner against another. So why don’t victims just
leave?
“If they leave, they go back because
it’s about a relationship,” Eddleman explains. “They have children together and
want the children to have a relationship with the father (who’s the abuser in
most cases).
“A lot of women stay because they
want to stay safe. You’re less likely to die if you stay. The issue is you’re
still alive. Most women are killed because they leave. We’ve had two people
back to back to get killed.”
(For more information about the Family Safety Center of
Memphis and Shelby County or any of its partner organizations, call 901-222-4400)
