Combatting Domestic Violence: Difficulties from first call to prosecution

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Worst lawsuit scenario. A young Clovis parent is dormant changeable and killed successful her ain home.

The fishy was identified by constabulary arsenic Tavion Tapscott.

The victim's parent tells Action News her girl Breaja Jones was successful a narration with Tapscott successful the past and was the begetter of her two-year-old.

The fishy had already been charged with home unit successful April and was connected probation erstwhile Jones was killed connected Saturday.

The Marjaree Mason Center and Clovis Police said this result is 1 they fear, but they said it tin beryllium challenging to respond to home unit cases and get victims to safety.

From the archetypal telephone to imaginable prosecution and beyond home unit calls tin beryllium unsafe for victims and hard for police, advocates, and lawyers.

Local constabulary and advocates said often they brushwood victims and aggressors respective times and they ever fearfulness the unit whitethorn pb to death.

"When you locomotion into a country and spot idiosyncratic crying oregon idiosyncratic physically hurt, it is devastating for everybody involved, but yet the program is to effort and assistance this idiosyncratic interruption the rhythm of violence," said Sgt. Abby Padgett, Clovis Police.

Sergeant Abby Padgett says adjacent if a unfortunate is unwilling to property charges, constabulary successful California bash person the quality to apprehension the suspected aggressor with the close grounds oregon witnesses.

Regardless of charges, she said they volition enactment with victims to link them to resources, including the Marjaree Mason Center.

"We often perceive that by the clip they scope america it is not the 1st clip wherever instrumentality enforcement's been involved," said Leticia Campos with the Marjaree Mason Center.

"It's not the 1st clip that the person's been incarcerated for home violence. In fact, you cognize immoderate of these cases the idiosyncratic was already taking a batterers involution course, oregon an choler absorption people due to the fact that of the anterior incidences of home violence."

This past year, the Marjaree Mason Center has seen doubly arsenic galore calls to their situation halfway than the twelvemonth before.

Even if an apprehension is made and charges are filed prosecution tin beryllium difficult.

If a subsister is consenting to testify, they whitethorn beryllium forced to relive the trauma implicit and over, repeating the communicative to a country afloat of strangers.

In galore cases, victims are unwilling to attest often retired of fearfulness particularly if their abuser refuses to enactment away.

"It's precise hard to enforce the orders, the impermanent restraining orders, the transgression protective orders, and that ends up resulting successful a 2nd home violence, and sometimes a precise superior one," said Tony Capozzi, Legal Analyst.

If the unfortunate is living, without their grounds ineligible expert Tony Capozzi said determination won't beryllium a conviction.

The Marjaree Mason Center says home unit tin summation aft the holidays and during large sporting events similar the World Series.

To prepare, they're moving to guarantee their 24/7 situation squad shifts are covered and they person on-call unit disposable successful lawsuit they request much help.

If you are the unfortunate of home abuse, oregon you cognize idiosyncratic who is, determination is assistance disposable 24/7. In Fresno County, telephone the Marjaree Mason Center astatine (559) 233-4357. In each different locations, telephone the National Domestic Violence Hotline astatine (800) 799-7233.