Intimate Violence Deaths in the News

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. - Prosecutors say a northern New Jersey man fatally stabbed his girlfriend then used a plastic bag to smother her five-year-old daughter because she saw her mother's slaying.Thirty-four-year-old Michael Brady of Teaneck was charged Wednesday with murder, hindering apprehension and weapons charges. His arrest came one day after the bodies of Tam Marie "Tammy" Pitts-Gaddy and her daughter, Natasia Gaddy, were found in their apartment in Englewood, just outside New York City.Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli says Brady and Pitts-Gaddy had dated for the last three years and lived together at times during their relationship. He says the slayings occurred after the couple apparently had a violent argument.Brady was being held Wednesday on $2 million bail. It's not known if he has a lawyer.

A 25-year-old Lusby man is being held by police in connection with the suspected murder of a 27-year-old Lusby woman, who police say was his girlfriend.John Warren Gibson Jr. led police Friday morning to a wooded area south of Leonardtown in St. Mary’s County, where police said in a press release they found the body of Amanda Lynn Foster in a trash can in the woods. Gibson allegedly told police the couple had been involved in a fight Jan. 12 at the home they shared on San Jose Lane in Lusby. During the fight, Gibson allegedly stabbed Foster in the chest, then placed her body in a trash can, loaded it into her truck and drove to St. Mary’s County where he hid the trash can in the woods near Breton Bay.Police said in a press release they began the investigation after receiving a call from a concerned family member Jan. 31 at 8:11 p.m. Foster’s family had not heard from the victim in several weeks and attempts to reach her by phone were unsuccessful. Troopers from the Maryland State Police Prince Frederick Barrack went to her home to try and talk to her. No one was at the San Jose Lane home, but troopers learned her truck had been seen parked at a home on H.G. Trueman Road in Lusby. Troopers went to the H.G. Trueman residence and spoke with Gibson, who told troopers he had dropped Foster off at a convenience store in California, Md., and had not heard from her since.Det. Rich of the Calvert Investigative Team was called in to assist in the investigation. Police said Gibson gave them conflicting information in his account of recent events and he was taken to CIT offices for questioning. Additional CIT personnel, Sgt. Jones, Sgt. Naughton, Tfc. Hunt and Det. Mudd, were called to assist in conducting the investigation.Police said during Gibson’s interview, he told police about the argument and the alleged homicide. He allegedly then took investigators this morning to the location of the body in the woods south of Leonardtown. CIT investigators met with troopers and deputies from the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigations at the scene. Foster’s body was recovered and taken to the Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore for an autopsy.Rich with the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and Sgt. Jones with MSP are continuing the investigation. Anyone with additional information can contact them at 410-535-1600, ext. 2765 or ext. 2455.

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — 28-year-old Keith Brooks is now charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide and misdemeanor battery in connection with the death of his wife, Anita.Anita Brooks was shot and killed in an apartment near 35th and Highland on Milwaukee’s west side early on Sunday, January 27th. Police say the incident was a result of domestic violence.The criminal complaint against Brooks says on the morning of the alleged offense, he and his wife, Anita were having an argument. When he tried to leave the apartment, Keith Brooks told police Anita tried to stop him. He told police he “slapped her once to the face with an open hand and then pushed her down to the floor.”The complaint indicates when Brooks then tried to leave the room again, he heard the sound of a click. Keith Brooks told police “he observed his wife holding her .380 caliber pistol in her right hand and that she was holding the firearm in front of her and looking down at it.” Brooks claims Anita then shot herself.However, the medical examiner states in the criminal complaint that “the victim died as a result of this gunshot wound and that she did not die as a result of a suicide.” The doctor said this was based on the “location of the wound and the fact that there was no indication of any soot, stippling or tattooing that would be associated with a suicide.”FOX6 News has learned Anita Brooks was a poet, using the stage name Anita Bee.On Thursday, Homer Blow listened to his last radio interview with Bee. “I don’t see anyone that would want to cause harm to her. (Keith Brooks) did a horrific thing and he has to own up to it and stop making excuses. I think it’s an insult to the family and her friends to even make (suicide) accusations,” Blow said.If convicted, Brooks faces up to life in prison.Visitation and funeral services for Anita Brooks are set for Wednesday, February 6th at All Saints Catholic Church. Visitation is from 10:00 a.m. until noon, and the funeral service starts at noon.A fund for the couple’s three-year-old daughter has been set up at Educator’s Credit Union under the name “Anita Brooks.” 

CREST HILL — Police say a man intentionally killed his wife with his car Saturday morning but claimed it was an accident.Police Chief Dwayne Wilkerson said an investigation led Will County prosecutors to file first-degree murder charges against Jerry Nichols, 62, in the death of Diane Nichols, 57, at the couple’s house in the 16000 block of Arborvitae Circle.

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.

JOSHUA TREE — A man was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 30, on suspicion of the murder of his wife, Christy Phipps, 35, at their home in the 61600 block of Alta Vista Drive.Sheriff’s deputies were called to the couple’s home at midnight Wednesday on a report of a shooting that had just occurred, according to a sheriff’s department news release.They found Phipps inside the home suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Medical aid pronounced her dead at the scene.Homicide investigators were called in and served a search warrant at the home. After interviewing Christy Phipps’ husband, 39-year-old Joseph Phipps, they took him into custody. He was booked on a murder charge at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Lt. Brad Toms of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.Phipps made his first court appearance Friday afternoon, Feb. 1, in the Joshua Tree courthouse, where a judge entered a plea of not guilty for him. The accused man sat with his hands covering his face, occasionally wiping away tears while Judge Rod Cortez dealt with five other accused men before him. Bail was set at $1 million.Phipps is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a conference.A medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Steve Pennington at (909) 387-3589.Joseph Phipps had been a tow truck driver at Hill’s Towing for four years, while Christy Phipps’ Facebook page listed her employment as In-Home Health Services.Robin Willis, a neighbor, knew both the victim and the suspect because their daughters are best friends. “I pulled my daughter out of there because the whole household situation was getting really bad,” Willis said by phone Thursday afternoon.Willis described an abusive relationship and added, “She’d been trying to leave for over a year and he wasn’t going to let her. He’s a very strange man. I had a very bad feeling about him. She was scared of him.”Court records show the Phipps were divorcing.

A woman and her boyfriend were found dead this morning in an apparent murder-suicide in Center.State police in Butler said they were dispatched to the 5100 block of Brown Road at 1:40 a.m. after reports of a shooting. They found the body of Sonja Kummer, 45, lying outside on the ground dead from shotgun wounds, and while searching the property discovered Dean Vaughn Clawson, 49, dead from a self-inflicted shotgun wound, police said. Both lived at the Brown Road home.Police told KDKA-TV that Ms. Kummer was packing her car to leave the home when she was shot.Police had been called in December to the couple's residence for a domestic disturbance, according to KDKA.

LANHAM, Md. (CBSDC)- An early morning murder-suicide attempt in Annapolis left the shooter dead and his victim, his estranged wife, in critical condition Monday.Anne Arundel County police were called to the 300 block of Harry S. Truman Parkway shortly after 1 a.m., where they found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds.The man, 50-year-old Calvin Cofield of Bowie, was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman, 43-year old Tracy Lynn West of Crownsville, was taken to Shock Trauma.An investigation revealed that Cofield went to West’s place of employment, shot her, then shot himself. Detectives have not yet identified a motive.The investigation is ongoing.

A woman killed in a Parsippany murder-suicide earlier this week was a Belleville High School graduate, her family said.Rosaria Andraka, 43, was found dead along with her husband Chester, at their home on Medford Drive Monday. According to Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp, Rosaria Andraka died of a gunshot wound, and her husband, 46, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.When contacted by the Times, Rosaria's parents, who live in Belleville's first ward, declined to be interviewed. However her father, Vincenzo Vinci, confirmed his daughter graduated from Belleville High School, although could not recall what year.Chester Andraka, who grew up in Bloomfield, was a retired Caldwell police officer. Both Andrakas worked at Fairleigh Dickinson University, at its Florham campus, she as an Honors Program administrator and advisor, he as an adjunct professor.
Dr. Brian Mauro, associate provost at FDU, believed that Rosaria had worked at the college for some eight or nine years.
"It was a number of years before I started," he said on Thursday.
According to her profile at LinkedIn.com, Rosaria, a Berkeley College graduate, started at FDU as assistant to the chair in July 2004. She then became an advisement counselor in Nov. 2006, before moving up to the Honors Program in Jan. 2012.
"She was a terrific person - beautiful, intelligent, kind, charismatic," said Mauro. "I could go on and on like everybody else. We're just really mourning her loss and missing her."
Chester was a 1984 graduate of Bloomfield High School, said Karen Delli Santi. They both grew up together on Bloomfield's Baldwin Street.
"He was always a good kid in school. He would do anything for you," Delli Santi toldBloomfield Life. "I don't think I ever even heard him curse."

SAN ANTONIO -- A woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death in what she claimed was self-defense pleaded "no contest" Wednesday.

Beatrice Ibanez killed Alfredo Ramirez at her home back in September of 2011. Neighbors said they heard arguing coming from the home that day. Ibanez went up to her neighbors after the killing, telling them her boyfriend was dead.

Ibanez now faces up to 30 years in prison.