Murder/Suicide in Tift County

WCTV reports:

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a press release detailing their investigation on what they say is a murder suicide. They say that evidence indicates that Darrell Ward shot and killed James and Shirley Peters in their home late Sunday night.

He also shot his ex-wife, Kayla Peters, but she survived. Ward then shot himself in the chest. Relatives of the Peters' family say that Kayla divorced Ward two weeks ago.

"The cops they had the road blocked off from Mitchell Store down to 319, on both ends. They wouldn't let anybody down, wouldn't tell anyone anything, it wasn't until a couple hours afterwards that we found out what happened," said one of the Peters' neighbors, only wanting to be identified as Heather.

Relatives said that Kayla's condition was improving, and that they had informed her on Tuesday afternoon that her parents had been killed.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Peters family.

Gwinnett Man Charged in Wife's Strangling

The AJC reports:

A 70-year-old Gwinnett County man remained hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, a day after he strangled his wife and then tried to kill himself, police said.

Officers were dispatched to a home on Summerfield Way, in the Sycamore Crossing neighborhood of Bethesda School Road near Lawrenceville, around 4:30 p.m. Monday for a welfare check after the couple did not show up for a meeting, Cpl. Ed Ritter said Monday evening.

Inside the stucco ranch home, officers found 62-year-old Eva Blatt dead and her husband, Alex Blatt, in medical distress, Ritter said. Police declined to say how the man attempted to kill himself in the apparent homicide and attempted suicide.

Alex Blatt was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center, where he was in critical condition Monday night, Ritter said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Blatt family.

Warner Robbins Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend

From The Macon Telegraph:

Russell Daniel Holt, 28, of Warner Robins, has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the 2:27 a.m. Sunday shooting of his girlfriend inside his residence in the 100 block of Ledford Way, said Tabitha Pugh, Warner Robins police spokeswoman.

His girlfriend, 27-year-old Jessica Nicole Wolfe of Bonaire, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, an autopsy found Monday. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, Pugh said. No other physical trauma was noted in the autopsy, Pugh said.

Wolfe was pronounced dead at the scene of the domestic violence incident, Pugh said. Police were initially dispatched to the residence in reference to a woman not breathing, Pugh said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Wolfe family.

Bad Advice

When it comes to domestic violence, most of us don't know the signs, yet we love to blame women for not noticing them and not getting out of the relationship fast enough. Case in point, a man writes to Cary Tennis, an advice columnist, and his letter is peppered with red flags. On Feministe, where we first saw this advice, Jill breaks them down:

I mean, we have some Classic Signs of A Controlling Man here.

1. Isolates her from her friends and family.


2. Criticizes her.


3. THREATENS SUICIDE when she tries to leave him.


4. Lies, or at least can’t keep his story straight, when he’s appealing for sympathy (see “we ended up having a screaming incident in front of our apartment” followed up with “I never threatened her or even raised my voice”).

The advice columnist, who by the way is paid to be an expert on relationships, has this to say:

It’s sad. I wish you two could patch it up.

This is the advice women are given. We are told to compromise so we won't end up alone, and then people are surprised when the violence escalates and we don't realize something is wrong until we are in too deep. To this advice columnist, the victim is the villain.

How hard would it be to tell women not to compromise, but only to commit to other people who treat them as equals and with respect? How hard would it have been for this advice columnist to tell this perfect stranger that his behavior is alarming and that his girlfriend is right to stay away? Domestic violence will not end if we tell women to put up with it and it certainly won't end until we are able to point out to men when their behavior is controlling or threatening. We need to stop ignoring the warning signs and start treating domestic and dating violence for what it is: a problem that needs to be addressed and can't be explained away.

Gwinnett Man Arrested in Roomate's Violent Death

From WSBTV:

Gwinnett County police have arrested a man suspected of beating a woman to death in their apartment off of Power Avenue in Buford.

Investigators went to a home in the 300 block of Power Avenue for a welfare check on Wednesday afternoon and found Vickie Bowles, 54, dead on the floor of her apartment.

“There were obvious signs of violence in the apartment and blunt force trauma about her body,” said Cpl. Edwin Ritter with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Thursday morning, police confirmed they had arrested Dennis Puckett and charged him with murder and aggravated assault in Bowles' death. Police said Puckett and Bowles both lived in the apartment where the body was found.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bowles family.

DeKalb Man Accused of Killing Ex

The AJC reports:

A man who fatally shot his ex-wife and injured another woman Wednesday morning in DeKalb County was arrested that afternoon when he showed up at a school in Duluth to pick up his son, authorities said.

Jason Bryant, 26, was arrested around 3:15 p.m. at Monarch School, a public school for Gwinnett County special needs children, nearly four hours after allegedly shooting the two women multiple times, police said. Charges against the man were pending Wednesday afternoon.

Angelina Bryant, 23, was killed outside the Windchase apartment complex in the Pine Lake area, and Trina Nwoke, 20, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.

"He was arrested ... after attempting to pick up his son from school," Parish said. "DKPD notified Gwinnett and school authorities shortly after the shooting about the possibility that he would be headed in their direction."

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families.

Not An Isolated Incident

You've seen us write before that the purpose of this blog is to connect the local work we do to larger issues that contribute to a culture that tolerates and encourages violence against women. Part of that culture is a deliberate insistence that incidents of violence against women are isolated incidents. This opinion piece in the Washington Post shows how the media contributes to that view:

A Washington state study of 230 news articles about 44 deaths related to domestic violence found that nearly all the stories portrayed these incidents as isolated events, rather than as part of a larger social problem.

A similar Rhode Island study of the media coverage of domestic violence homicides found that journalists often portrayed the murder as an “unpredictable private tragedy” rather than part of a larger pattern of abuse. Both studies found that media coverage generally failed to provide accurate information about the dynamics of domestic violence or utilize experts as sources for stories. When experts were quoted, however, the media coverage was much more likely to describe the murder as a part of the societal problem of domestic violence and to discuss community resources for responding to violence.

If we can't see domestic violence homicides as connected, and we can't see the larger societal attitudes and issues that contribute to violence against women, how can we devise a solution? That is why it is vital to share what you've learned about domestic violence with those around you. You can help them connect the dots and only then will we be able to come up with solutions that are truly preventative.