Victims of domestic violence are often urged to get restraining orders and are faulted for staying with their perpetrators.
But as Jacksonville numbers for 2018 show, asking for protection could put domestic violence victims in even greater danger.
Of 105 murders in the city of Jacksonville so far this year, 14 were crimes of domestic violence. In five of those cases – 35 percent of the time – female victims sought protection before their deaths from the men now accused of killing them.
The case of Navy Chief Petty Officer Andrea Washington, shot to death in her Northside home in September, is a case in point.
Washington was once engaged to the man now charged in her death. Her ex-fiancé Danny Beard has pleaded not guilty. But a restraining order and a police report Washington filed days before her death said he’d beaten her and threatened to kill her.
Sadly, she’s in good company.
Family law attorney Ashley Myers says in some cases, asking for help makes things worse.
“Once the respondent is served [with a request for protective order], that may set the person off, and they may actually come looking for the petitioner,” Myers said.
She adds, “I’m not trying to scare people into not filing the petition -- but think it through.”
Domestic violence advocates say that means having a plan – a place to stay, people who can help. And they urge victims to let co-workers, friends and family know what’s happening.
Once that’s done, Meyers says, a restraining order can help; it can lay the groundwork for better police protection. But an order alone can’t protect you.
“It’s a piece of paper,” she says. “Yes, an injunction is wise to obtain, but if it’s a choice between getting a domestic violence injunction and getting out of town because you’re truly in fear it’s about to be imminent, then I suggest you go.”
According to a report released by the Florida Attorney General's Office, there were 180 domestic violence-related homicides statewide in 2017. The “Faces of Fatality” reports found that more 50 percent of the time, family members of those who died as a result of domestic violence knew that their loved one was a victim of prior threats or violence.
Below is a list of the 14 murders that have either been categorized by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office as domestic murder or in which the accused is an intimate partner of the victim.
- Ashley Nicole Stephens, killed Oct. 6, was married to 29-year-old suspect Marco Jarell Stephens, but she had sought a prior restraining order against him, claiming he beat her and threatened her life.
- Cassandra Valentin was stabbed to death Jan. 23 by her ex-boyfriend Marvin Lynn Williams, according to police. She sought a prior order of protection against him, and he served prison time for that abuse, which included raping Valentin at knifepoint and threatening to kill her.
- Navy Chief Petty Officer Andrea Lea Washington was killed Sept. 17 and her ex-fiancé Danny Beard is in jail charged with her murder. Prior to her death, she had sought a restraining order and filed a police report against him for a violent assault, saying Beard threatened to kill her with a handgun.
- Nekecheana Shantoria Phillips was killed Dec. 21. and her boyfriend Eric Lamar Jackson Jr is charged with her murder. Prior to her death, she sought a restraining order against him, claiming he’d punched her in the head repeatedly.
- Police arrested Jeremy Murkey, 37, for the murder of 34-year-old Shonda Smith May 9. According to investigators, Murkey drove her to an emergency room on 103rd Street after shooting her. Two children were home at the time and called 911. Prior to her murder, she filed a restraining order against her live-in boyfriend, saying he had become increasingly aggressive, even throwing hot water from the stove at her.
- Alonzo Oneal Cole, 34, is accused of stabbing his girlfriend and killing her mother, Barbara Elaine Grubbs, 55, in Arlington Sept. 28.
- Julie Ann Stewart was stabbed to death and stuffed in the trunk of a car, allegedly by husband Gerard Stewart on June 15. No prior domestic complaint was filed, but Julie Stewart filed for divorce on April 26.
- Erica Newsome is accused of killing her 11-year-old daughter Kaye-Lea Plummer and driving the girl’s body to West Virginia in the fall of 2017. The murder charge was filed in January.
- Mother Michelle Cannimore and boyfriend Jonte Harris are charged with killing 5-year-old Zykerria Robinson on Oct. 26 at Oak Tree Apartments. The child was found with bite marks on her body.
- Marcus Stephon Heath, 26, is accused of murder after his 57-year-old mom, Voncille Heath, was found in a pool of blood in their home off Chaffee Road on June 19.
- Wilford Chason 51, a registered sex offender, is accused of beating his wife Jennifer Herbert to death inside their Bartram Park home on Oct. 15.
- Debra Greenwood, 63, was killed by her boyfriend Robert Leon Klewin, 67, at the Park Ridge Mobile Home Park on July 6. He took his own life a little over a week after her death.
- Rasheed Karreem, 35, is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 10 shooting death of 32-year-old Jamie Marie Roque, his girlfriend, who was shot and killed in a McDonald's drive-thru on Baymeadows Road.
- 21-year-old Tynikkia Tyshelle Tanner was found dead inside Vista Landing Apartments on Oct 6. *Note: No one has been arrested in this case, and no suspect named, but a family GoFundMe page references domestic violence.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, Hubbard House offers safe shelter and help to devise escape plans. You can call their 24-hour hotline at 904-354-3114.