Homicides can follow years of abuse

More than half of women killed in domestic disputes had sought help

BY JOHN A. TORRES
FLORIDA TODAY

More than half of the women killed in domestic disputes in Brevard County over the last three years had filed police reports or sought injunctions against the men later accused in the crimes.

But, in many cases, the victim ultimately backed down, not wanting the state to press charges or not showing up for court.

Those decisions, sometimes, proved fatal.

In a review of court records, FLORIDA TODAY found there have been at least 15 domestic violence homicides in Brevard County in the last three years involving formerly intimate partners.

"It's classic," said Nancy Sley, victim advocate for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. "It goes through cycles: power control, abuse, apologies and promises never to do it again."

Last month, Yolanda Garvin-Williams was gunned down as she arrived for work at Parrish Medical Center in Titusville. Police arrested her estranged husband, Jeremiah Williams.

Just weeks before, Garvin-Williams had told her husband she was leaving him and filed an injunction against him, saying she feared for her life.

But the temporary injunction was dropped a few days later when Garvin-Williams was a no-show at court.

That fit a familiar pattern. Garvin-Williams filed criminal complaints against Williams in 2000 and in 2001 on domestic violence charges. But both cases were dropped when she refused to cooperate with the state's attempt to press charges, according to the State Attorney's Office.

"These situations are based on intimate relationships. They are together because they care about each other or used to care about each other," said Assistant State Attorney Linda Gruver, head of the domestic violence unit in Brevard County. "Many times the victim doesn't want anything bad to happen to the other person."

In 2007, Willie Grant of Palm Bay was charged with fatally shooting his wife with a shotgun. Fifteen years earlier, he had shot her in the face. But, like many domestic violence victims, Linda Grant refused to cooperate with police, saying it was an accident.

According to court documents, Linda Grant's four daughters stated their mother "was always covering for their father and saying her injuries were accidental." The daughters spoke of a 30-year history of domestic violence.

Charged with second-
degree murder, Grant faces life in prison if convicted.

Victims stay in abusive relationships for a variety of reasons, experts say. Sometimes it's financial, sometimes it's the fear of being alone, or fear of losing their children.

Like Grant and Garvin-
Williams, Toni Walker didn't follow up on previous charges of domestic violence against her 31-year-old estranged husband Silvester.

He killed her a few days before their divorce was to be final in 2007. Silvester Walker claimed he accidentally strangled her during sex games. He died from an infection while awaiting trial at the county jail.

A Cocoa police report in 2006 said Toni Walker claimed her husband had grabbed her, pushed her against the bed and put a .22-caliber handgun to her head, threatening that "she'd be dead before she left him." But those charges were dropped when Walker refused to come forward and there was not enough evidence to proceed.

Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy with the Washington, D.C.-based Family Violence Prevention Fund, said there are no easy answers to explain why women stay in abusive relationships.

"Sometimes they feel it might actually be safer to stay," she said. "The most dangerous time for many is when they make that decision to leave."

Stewart said there are signs to look for.

"They might include the perpetrator threatening suicide, violating restraining orders or threatening to kill you or the children," she said, adding that sometimes job loss can exacerbate the problem.

Prosecutors try to meet with abuse victims within five days of the incident so they won't change their minds about cooperating. They also want to let victims know what their options are and what services are available.

But in some cases, there are no visible warning signs. When 33-year-old Henry Bragg shot his bride-to-be Stephanie Frucella, 28, before turning the 9mm pistol on himself, there were no signs of domestic violence or that the coupe was unhappy. Just the day before the 2008 shooting, Bragg and Frucella were with friends at Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando.

"Unfortunately, no clinician or process can predict that an aggressor will or will not seriously harm or kill," said Cmdr. Doug Waller with the sheriff's office.

In some instances, it appeared as if abusive men snap when they realize their former partner has moved on to someone else.

Carlos Acevedo used a GPS to stalk his estranged wife Idelisa Morales to the home of a male friend in 2007. He shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself, committing suicide.

Merritt Island man Patrick Wharen is charged with shooting and killing his estranged wife Kelly Wharen and her male friend Jonathan Vuick last year. Kelly Wharen told neighbors that her live-in friend, Vuick, was the fiancé of a daughter she had once given up for adoption.

Patrick Wharen had been arrested in connection with domestic violence against his wife six months before the fatal shooting.

Contact Torres at 242-3649 or jtorres@floridatoday.com.