Augusta Man "Person of Interest" in DV Murder

An Augusta grandmother was found stabbed to death in her home, and her former partner has been identified as a "person of interest".

Authorities discovered the body of [Norma Jean] Mobley, 52, a mother of four and grandmother of seven, in her residence on the 1600 block of McCauley Street in Cherry Tree Crossing about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Authorities named Samuel Steplight as a person of interest Wednesday. Steplight and Mobley had been living together for about four years before splitting up a month ago.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mobley family.

Rome Man Kills Wife, Self

According to a preliminary police investigation:

The preliminary investigation indicated that Jeffery Ware shot his wife, Jeannine, 47, during an argument at their Booger Hollow Road home, and then turned the gun on himself, said Capt. Mark Wallace of the Floyd County Police Department.

Police are still investigating what led to the shooting.

The woman was holding her 16-year-old son’s leg when she was shot in the back and at least twice more, Wallace said.

The couple’s 14-year-old son was also in the home, but it was not clear late Wednesday where he was at the time of the shootings, Wallace said. It was the 14-year-old who called 911, he said.

The teens were not injured.

Jeffery Ware was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Barry Henderson. Jeannine Ware was pronounced dead on arrival at Floyd Medical Center at 5:46 p.m., Henderson said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ware family, especially the young men who are left without parents.

Atlanta Man Charged with Killing New Bride

According the the AJC:

Police say 29-year-old Minchillo McLester fatally shot his 25-year-old wife, Madison McLester, early Sunday after they returned from a Halloween party. He's being held without bond on a murder charge at the Fulton County Jail, with a scheduled court date of Nov. 15.

The pair had married Oct. 10. Police do not have a motive in the killing.

Madison McLester was found on the floor of their home in the 1000 block of Oak Street, in southwest Atlanta. She had been shot several times, police said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family.

Women Arrested for DV Murders

Two Georgia women have been arrested recently for murdering their husbands. WRC knows that women are also capable of using violence, but we also know that women are much less likely than men to murder a spouse or intimate partner. In addition, much of the violence used by women that men's groups cite to prove that men are equally as victimized happens in self-defense. When viewing these two murder cases through that lens, it is certainly interesting to note that both homicide victims had a history of domestic violence.

From WALB:

An Albany woman, who shot and killed her ex-husband Monday night says she'd long been the victim of domestic violence.

33 year old Marlina Hamilton is charged with killing 32 -year old Christopher Donaldson.

Donaldson had just gotten out of prison in March and Police say he and Hamilton, who divorced two years ago, were talking about moving back in together.

Police were called to Hamilton's home around 10:30 that night because of an argument, and officers told Donaldson to leave.

He returned a couple of hours later and was shot.

From the AJC:

A 53-year-old northwest Georgia man was shot and killed Wednesday night, and his wife has been charged with murder.

Walker County deputies were dispatched to the Flintstone home after receiving a call about a domestic dispute, the Rome News-Tribune reported. Deputies found D.C. Hollis dead on the living room floor, according to the report.

Hollis apparently died from a single .38-caliber gunshot wound to the head, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson told the newspaper. An autopsy will be conducted at the GBI crime lab.

Hollis' wife, 53-year-old Jimmie Nell Hollis, was arrested and charged with murder, Wilson said.

The couple has a history of being arrested, according to the Walker County Messenger.

D.C. Hollis was released from state prison in 2006 following his conviction on aggravated assault charges, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

This is not to say that either man deserved to be killed, but you don't often see newspaper reports of female homicide victims that mention that she spent time in prison for assault or that he claims she had of a history of abuse toward him. Even if we count cases where women kill their partners in self-defense, or to end a lifetime of abuse as these cases may be, the unfortunate reality is that women are still disproportionately killed by their partners and men are disproportionately the ones who do the killing.

White House Remarks for DVAM

President Obama made remarks today as part of a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event. Here is an excerpt:

Those stories remind us of how cruel, how menacing domestic violence can be -- because it happens at home, the place where you should feel safe. Because the abuse comes at the hands of the people who are supposed to love you and trust you. Because escaping domestic violence is not only associated with a great deal of fear but also incredible financial and legal challenges that often leave victims of abuse feeling trapped.

That’s what we have to change. And I say that not only as a President, but as a son, as a husband, as the father of two daughters. Now, we’ve made a great deal of progress in recent years. But everybody in this room understands that our work is not yet finished. Not when there’s more we can do to help folks looking to restart their lives and achieve financial independence. Not when there’s more to do to ensure that the victims of abuse have access to legal protection. Not when children are trapped in abusive homes -- especially when we know the lingering damage and despair that this can cause in a child’s life. Not when one in every four women experiences domestic violence -- and one in six women are sexually assaulted -- at some point in their lives.

The full remarks are available here.

At the event, the President also announced plans for a series of federal domestic violence initiatives. From Politico:

There are programs targeted at children, including a fund to assist pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence in five states — North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Washington — and Head Start centers in six states – Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico and South Carolina – will launch a program to help staff members identify signs of domestic violence in children and respond appropriately.

HUD will release guidelines for housing authorities and landlords who have tenants who may be victims of domestic violence, a move that codifies protections outlined in the Violence Against Women Act. The FDIC will expand its Money Smart financial literacy curriculum on Friday to include information for victims of domestic violence.

The Justice Department will announce the start of a pilot program intended to get more private lawyers to offer services to domestic violence victims pro bono. “Beginning in New Orleans and Baltimore, private law firms will hire law students who have participated in law school clinics and defer their start dates while they work at domestic violence service providers,” the White House fact sheet states.

The initiatives also include a new website, www.workplacesrespond.org, which will be up and running this week to help employers address the impacts of domestic violence in the workplace.

It is amazing what can be accomplished by a government that takes domestic violence seriously, and we applaud the Obama administration for these efforts.