The Big Picture: DV Murder in Clayton County

Monday, January 24, 2011

DV Murder in Clayton County

According to WSB Channel 2, a Clayton County man called police on Thursday and confessed to strangling his wife to death.

Daniel said [Drew] Shepard’s wife, Aletha, was sitting at a computer when he approached her and attacked.

“He did use his hands, put them around her throat. There was a struggle. She began to fight back. He came from behind, and it appears it was a case of manual strangulation," Daniel said.

This case pretty clearly refutes the idea that DV homicides are crimes of passion that happen when emotions are running high. This couple was not in the middle of a fight. The victim wasn't doing anything to provoke his anger. According to his own account, she was seated and he came up behind her and used his own hands to kill her. This certainly doesn't sound like a man who just lost it.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Shepard family.

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Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through physical, sexual, emotional, and/or financial abuse. Both men and women are capable of misusing power and perpetrating violence, and male victims are often just as afraid to call the police. More resources for female survivors exist, however, because overwhelmingly women and children suffer the most severe consequences (medical, legal, social, and financial) and therefore require the most intensive interventions.

Many women choose to stay in abusive relationships because they do not want their relationship to end...just the violence. Women often remain in, or return to, abusive relationships because their partners threaten to harm them and their loved ones if they attempt to leave. Commonly, women choose to leave when they become convinced that their life is at risk, or that their children are in danger.

Domestic violence is not just a "family matter". The violence will not stop until men and women come together with a common attitude of non-tolerance. We must speak out for those who may not feel safe speaking up, and our children must learn through our words and example that violence is never justified.