Intimate Violence Deaths in the News

BILOXI — Biloxi police say a 53-year-old man is accused in his wife’s death by suffocation and assaulting an officer during a domestic disturbance call.

The Sun Herald reports Correy James Dartez was arrested Wednesday on a charge of murder of his wife and a charge of aggravated assault on a police officer.

Sgt. Christopher De Back says Dartez was taken to Harrison County jail on a $1.25 million bond set by Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain.

Harrison County Deputy Coroner Charles Wise says 52-year-old Victoria Lynn Dartez was found in the couple’s apartment.

De Back says when police responded to the Dartez apartment, they were confronted by Correy Dartez, who was wielding a kitchen knife.

A southwest Houston man remains behind bars after police said he killed his wife and seriously injured his teenage stepson over the weekend.

Lawrence Clinton Chambers, 40, was charged on Tuesday with murder and injury to a child, authorities said.

Detectives said he killed his wife, Jemal Lockridge Chambers, 43, and seriously injured his 13-year-old stepson late Sunday at the family's home in the 2800 block of Tidewater.

The woman's daughter became suspicious because her mother's car wasn't in the driveway. She had a key and went inside, discovering her mother's body and the boy in a bedroom, police said.

Jamal Chambers was pronounced dead at the scene. Her son was taken to Texas Children's Hospital in serious condition, police said.

A report of a northwest Missouri woman committing suicide led to a second-degree murder charge against her husband.

Johnson County authorities say they received a call Saturday afternoon about 24-year-old Danielle R. Garcia shooting herself at her home in Knob Noster.

The Kansas City Star reports deputies sent to the home found Garcia dead on the kitchen floor with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Further investigation led to the arrest of Anthony Garcia, who was charged with one count each of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. His bond was set at $250,000.

KERSHAW, S.C. — Authorities say a Lancaster County man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife.

Deputies say 62-year-old Joseph Daniel Hilton called authorities just before midnight Monday and admitted he had killed his wife.

Authorities found 59-year-old Deborah Faile Hilton inside the couple's Kershaw home. She had been shot once, and no one else was inside.

Hilton surrendered to authorities and told investigators he shot his wife during an argument. He was being held at the Lancaster County jail, and it wasn't known if he had an attorney.

PORT RICHEY — In a line of chairs on the front porch, five children watched the fire Tuesday evening. The belongings of the man who killed their mother smoldered in two grill basins in the yard. Orange light flickered in the shadows of Albert Lane's face as he told the story about the woman he loved.

He and Tina Diane Lane, who went by Diane, divorced last June. Albert, 56, took up living with his friend Rex Shelton at a small house 5 miles away. About two months ago, he said, Diane started dating Shelton.

Diane, 37, broke it off three weeks ago, said her daughter, Ann Lane, 21.

Diane and Albert went to lunch at a McDonald's in Tampa two weeks ago. They talked. He said they fell back into love.

In the meantime, Shelton, 56, began writing her notes, texting repeatedly and harassing her. Albert caught wind of it and told Shelton to pack his bags and leave.

Shelton planned to move to Atlanta, but he'd need money. He asked Albert for help with one last painting job to help raise the funds.
• • •
On Monday morning, they were scheduled to paint a house on Ranch Road.

Diane called Albert at 6:45 a.m. and asked him over for coffee and to talk. He said he kissed her and told her he loved her. She told him to get a move on and help Shelton with the job so he'd leave.

He and Shelton were painting the house until 9:15 a.m., when Shelton announced he needed 5 more gallons of paint to finish the garage door. Albert watched him pull out of the driveway in his truck.

Shelton should have been gone only a few minutes.


Albert waited there for six hours.
• • •
Just before 2:30 p.m. Monday, Ashley Lane, 15, walked from Gulf High School to her home at 6018 Maplewood Drive. She and her older sister, Ann, noticed something strange through the window to the garage.

Shelton's body hung by the neck from a rope in the rafters. He wore only boxers. He was up to his elbows in blood.

They called 911, but couldn't get into the house.

New Port Richey police officers would later break in to find Diane bludgeoned to death in her bedroom.

Emergency crews arrived and flooded the small street. The family huddled in a driveway across the street from their house and wept in each other's arms. Albert heard from a friend about the news and was taken to the home he shared with Shelton.
• • •
On Tuesday night, they sat on the porch and burned Shelton's belongings and remembered Diane, their mother, his former wife.

"She was a beautiful woman," Albert said. "She could just touch me with her fingers and I would melt. Her smell would just reverberate in me."

PRICE — A couple is dead in what Carbon County investigators are calling an apparent murder-suicide. Authorities said a man called the Price Utah Public Safety Dispatch just before 3 a.m. on Sunday to report that he shot his wife and intended to shoot himself. Officers from various police agencies responded to a residence in the area of 600 West 300 South in Price.

Four children were safely removed from the residence as officers attempted to make contact with the husband and wife who remained inside.

A Carbon County Sheriff SWAT team entered the residence and discovered the bodies of 37-year old David Scott Donaldson and 32-year old Shaniel Kaye Donaldson in the master bedroom.

The investigation by Price Police Department and the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office is ongoing. The children — who were not physically harmed — are in the custody of family members.

According to Price Police Captain Bill Barnes, there had been no history of "domestic discord" in the home, making the incident all the more surprising.

"From the outside, it certainly came out of the blue," he said. "It's a shock to everybody that knew them. It's very horrific!"

A woman who identified herself as a relative of David Donaldson and who spoke on condition of anonymity said the couple had some marital problems over the years, but she would have never guessed that something like this would have happened.

“Last night, things seem to be okay, but what happened between then and 3 o’clock in the morning we just don’t know,” she said. "(There is) definitely shock and disbelief. It’s just a tragedy for everyone.”

Authorities on Tuesday identified the elderly couple killed in a murder-suicide the day before in Delaware County.

Adolph Markiewicz, 89, and Louise Markiewicz, 91, were found dead 3:40 p.m. Monday by their son in their township home on Princess Anne Drive near Naamans Creek Road, Bethel Township Police Chief Thomas Worrilow said.

Worrilow declined to say which spouse fired the fatal gunshots. They were married for more than 60 years and lived in the township for five decades, and both were in "failing health," he said.

ENGLEWOOD – Funeral services Tuesday for a mother and daughter allegedly murdered by the woman’s boyfriend served as a clarion call to escape abusive relationships and to put a halt to domestic violence.
“This tragedy has happened to wake us up,” said the Rev. Lester W. Taylor Jr., pastor of Community Baptist Church, where more than 800 mourners came to pay respects to Tam Marie “Tammy” Pitts-Gaddy, 40, and 5-year-old Natasia “Tay Tay” Gaddy.
Pitts-Gaddy was stabbed to death last week by her boyfriend of three years, according to authorities, who said he then used a plastic bag to suffocate the little girl because she saw him argue with and kill her mother. The suspect, Michael C. Brady, a 34-year-old custodian from Teaneck, was charged with two counts of murder and is being held on $2 million bail.
Addressing the mourners, Taylor said prayer will not stop the domestic violence that has been rampant in the African-American community for years. He urged women not to settle for a relationship that puts them in harm’s way because they think they can’t do better.
“That is not God’s design or will for your life,” he said.
He then turned his message to men, calling domestic violence “evil” and telling men “your religion is in vain, it means nothing” if they abuse their wives or partners.
“We’re not strong men because we can raise our fists,” he said. “To assault a child is another level of evil.”
Pitts-Gaddy’s and her daughter’s bodies were found in their apartment at 276 W. Palisade Ave. on Jan. 29 by relatives who had questioned Brady about their whereabouts when they had been unable to get in touch with them. Brady who is accused of killing them on Jan. 28, broke into the apartment at the relatives’ urging and feigned surprise at finding them dead, authorities have said.
Taylor announced the creation of a domestic violence prevention campaign through Crowned with Glory International Ministries in Englewood, where Pitts-Gaddy’s sister, Angele Frazier-Tanner, is a pastor and where Pitts-Gaddy served as a youth leader, choir director and outreach minister.
The campaign, called the T&T Initiative – for Tammy and Tay Tay – aims to provide shelter for abused women and children in the Englewood area. Ushers at the service passed out envelopes for mourners to use to send contributions.
Elaine Meyerson, executive director of Shelter our Sisters, the largest domestic violence service agency in Bergen County, said Englewoodhas one of the highest domestic violence rates in the county, with 261 cases of domestic violence reported to police in 2010, the most recent year statistics are available.
“We would be thrilled to work with them,” Meyerson said. “The more people who recognize and work toward ending domestic violence will make this a better county and a better world.”
At the service, Frazier-Tanner implored victims of domestic violence to seek help before it is too late.
“Words cannot express the pain we’re feeling right now,” she said. “I am sounding an alarm through the deaths of these two – GET OUT!”
Her words filled the overflowing church where clergy from all over the region joined the community to support Pitts-Gaddy’s family. The service drew local officials, including Englewood Mayor Frank Huttle, his wife, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle, and police Chief Arthur O’Keefe.
Some mourners were overcome with grief upon seeing mother and daughter in matching white coffins. Pamela Taylor of Englewood remembered Pitts-Gaddy “coming in and out of my house” as a young girl who befriended her daughters. She described the “hurt and horror” she felt when learning how she and her daughter died.
“I knew her from Head Start all the way through Dwight Morrow” high school, she said. “Her and her baby were of this community. It’s like a family. It’s like a village. We love each other.”
Andrea Pitts, Tammy’s sister-in-law, told the crowd how Natasia, who was in kindergarten at D.A. Quarles Early Childhood Center, loved to color, sing and dress up her dolls. Pitts-Gaddy, the youngest of four siblings, worked for the John Lucky Bus Company in Hackensack.
“Tam had a spirit that drew people to her,” Pitts said. “She was well known as a fun, outgoing, energetic neighborhood auntie who everyone loved and could count on.”
While the wake was mournful, the three-hour funeral service was often a rousing celebration of life, with hundreds of people dancing and clapping, raising their hands and voices to stirring up-tempo music.
“This is a time to galvanize,” said the Rev. Michael McDuffie of Mighty Sons of God Fellowship Church in Paterson. “There is strength in numbers.”
Burial in Maple Grove Cemetery in Hackensackfollowed the service.

SAN ANTONIO -
The Kristine Meza Foundation, a San Antonio nonprofit foundation dedicated to fighting family violence, remembered its namesake Monday on the second anniversary of her death.

Kristine Meza, described by family and friends as a ray of light, was killed by her ex-boyfriend two years ago as she was headed to work.

The pair had been in an abusive relationship, according to Meza's family, in which her boyfriend would hit her repeatedly.

She left him, and just days later, was shot dead.

Family and friends decided her death would not remain merely a tragedy, however, and decided to do something about it.

"So we created the Kristine Meza Foundation," said Anastacia Isaac-Salazar, one of the foundation's founders. "We are dedicated to being a resource for domestic violence victims in this community."

Isaac-Salazar said their message centers around making sure victims know there are people who care and can help them before it's too late.

"This is such a huge issue in San Antonio, and while some people say it's too big to be beaten, we plan on making a difference one life at a time," said Isaac Salazar.

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) -Two families are in mourning after a couple was found dead at a south Columbus business Tuesday afternoon.

Gonzalo Garcia, 38, is believed to have shot his fiancée 27-year-old Victoria Jacquez in the head and then himself, becoming the fifth homicide this year.

Garcia was a captain assigned to the 199th infantry regiment here at Fort Benning. He moved here from Fort Bliss, Texas with Jacquez in October.

 Authorities say Garcia used a 40-Caliber Smith and Wesson hand gun to commit the crime, and Jacquez didn't even know it was coming.

It's still unclear why Garcia took his fiancée's life and then his own. Authorities say they did not find a note on the scene.

News Leader 9's Brittany Dionne went back up to the scene Wednesday to try to speak with the employee that found the couple but they declined to comment on the case.

Of course we will continue to follow this story and bring you details as they become available.

A Sikh family found dead in an Atlanta suburb on Monday morning were the victims of an apparent murder-suicide, police say.

The bodies of Shindiver Grover, 52, his wife Damanjit, 47, and their two sons, Sartag, 12 and Gurtej, 5, were found in their first-floor apartment in Johns Creek, Ga., at around 11:30 a.m. Monday, according to local reports.

Police said one of Damanjit's co-workers alerted authorities after she didn't show up for work, local WSBTV reported.

Johns Creek police Chief Ed Densmore described the apartment as a "complicated" crime scene, and they weren't sure how the victims died.

It didn't appear that any shots were fired, Densmore said.

The nature of the murder - the city's first since it was incorporated in 2006 - was troubling to even the most senior investigators, Densmore said.

"We are all human. We’re all parents. We have families," Densmore said, according to local CBS News.

"You deal with something like this, it will take a little bit out of you, of course."

Friends who gathered to mourn at the family’ Gurdwara, a place of worhip in the Sikh faith, said they couldn't fathom that Shindiver or Damanjit was responsible.

"With the family values we have in India, with two small kids, I mean, nobody can hurt their own children," said neighbor Bashir Farishda told WSBTV.

Authorities say a 48-year-old man shot the mother of his children six times before taking his own life with a gunshot wound to the head early Wednesday morning in Harvey. The Jefferson Parish coroner's office has identified the deceased as Adrian Adams of Harvey.

The victim, Brandy Perry, 34, was treated at a local hospital for gunshot wounds to her arms, chest and ear, according to relatives. She is expected to recover.

The shooting occurred at Perry's two-story residence at 2704 W. Catawba Drive, Harvey, while the pair's three children, ages 13, 12 and 9, were in nearby bedrooms.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing quarrel over Adams' unemployment, according to Glen T. Boyd, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Adams allegedly woke Perry from her sleep around midnight to argue. He armed himself with a pistol when she tried to remove him from the house, Boyd said.

Perry then tried to call 911 for help, but Adams opened fire, striking her six times. Perry ran to one of her children's bedrooms and barricaded herself inside, Boyd said. Adams fired twice through the door. Perry told authorities she heard only one more pop, the sound of Adams shooting himself in their bedroom, Boyd said.

Stunned relatives, including Perry's father, mother and sister, were with her at the house late Wednesday morning helping to clean blood from her bedroom. Brandy Perry was too upset to talk about the shooting.

Her mother, Julia Nickerson, of Gretna, said she and other relatives received a frantic call about the shooting from Perry's children just after midnight. By the time they arrived, Sheriff's Office officials had already secured the scene.

Relatives aren't sure what set Adams on his homicidal rage. Nickerson, was said the two had arguments, but nothing that would have indicated this level of violence.

"I didn't think the man was capable of doing something like this to her or to anyone else," Nickerson said.

LAKE WORTH —Two men are dead after a recently ended relationship turned into a murder-suicide this afternoon, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

Gabriel Ferrarotti, 37, was shot and killed in his Lake Worth apartment by Leopold Azplazu, 32, who then turned the gun and killed himself, said Teri Barbera, sheriff’s spokeswoman.

The men had been in a relationship for about 11 years and had recently broken up, Barbera said. Azplazu was supposed to move out of the apartment Tuesday night, his friends told investigators.
When Ferrarotti did not show up for work Wednesday, deputies were asked to to conduct a welfare check at the apartment.

At about 12:30 p.m. today, the deputies went to the 100 block of South Lakeside Drive and discovered the bodies of both men inside the apartment, Barbera said.

Deputies remained at the scene late this evening as crime scene tape blocked the street. Two cars were towed away from the residence.

Tibor Nagy, of Lake Worth, said he knows the owner of the residence and met the two men while attending cookouts in the neighborhood.

“They were really nice guys,” he said. “Something drastic must have happened between them. … I’m really surprised. They were the nicest two guys you wanted to meet.”

Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County prosecutors getting ready to try a Raleigh man and his wife in the 2011 murder of a Kinston woman say the crime was a case of domestic violence.

Grant Ruffin Hayes, 33, and Amanda Perry Hayes, 40, are both charged with first-degree murder in the July 2011 death of Grant Hayes' ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children, Laura Jean Ackerson.

Ackerson's remains were found July 24, 2011, in a creek in Richmond, Texas – about 60 miles south of Houston – where Amanda Hayes' sister lives.

"Grant Hayes wanted to remove Laura Ackerson from his life," Assistant District Attorney Boz Zellinger told Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens Monday during a hearing to decide whether the couple should be prosecuted together when the case goes to trial May 20.

Stephens continued the hearing for 30 days to give attorneys for the Hayeses time to discuss their defense strategies and to decide whether trying the couple together would be detrimental to their clients.

Zellinger's characterization of the case as being domestic violence is the first time authorities have publicly spoken about a motive for the killing. Family members, however, have said Grant Hayes and Ackerson, 27, had been involved in a contentious child custody battle.

Zellinger told Stephens that there was a "tremendous amount" of evidence against Grant Hayes and that Amanda Hayes confided in her sister in Texas that she helped kill Ackerson and was covering for him.

"She said she had hurt Laura and Laura was dead." Zellinger said, relating a conversation between the two women.

How Ackerson died is unclear. Medical examiners found injuries that suggested a sharp force injury to her neck, but there were also signs that someone tried to strangle her.

Texas authorities who found Ackerson's body and later turned the case over to Raleigh police, say they believe the Hayeses killed Ackerson, cut up her body and carried it in coolers to Texas, where they disposed of her remains in the creek.