Family violence took a deadly turn in the past three days, with four victims killed, allegedly by people who were supposed to be loved ones.
And two of those culprits took their own lives, authorities said.
Domestic violence experts are troubled by the death toll in what they say reflects a growing trend.
And there are no easy answers for why statistics show domestic deaths in Georgia growing over the past three years, from 111 in 2008 to 131 in 2010, with 40 so far this year.
But at least one expert blames the economy.
“Incidents seem to go up as economy goes down,” said Allison Smith, economic justice coordinator with the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “That’s pretty much a nationwide trend.”
Another, Sulaiman Nuriddin, of nonprofit Men Stopping Violence, pins the trend to growing control issues.
“It’s still about control and power and wanting to dominate someone’s life,” Nuriddin said. “Especially when you’re not getting what you want.”
Yet the impact is inescapable.
“This weekend is a tragic showcase of the epidemic of domestic violence,” said Greg Loughlan, acting executive director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence.
Smith, who’s worked with the coalition six years, said the weekend presented more deaths than she’d seen before.
“Not seen this many separate incidents,” she said.
The bloody weekend ended Monday afternoon, when Anthony Tyrone Appling, 42, shot himself to death in front of witnesses after Jefferson police said he killed his estranged wife, Carlotta Appling.
Anthony Appling drove to Carlotta Appling’s neighborhood in Jefferson early Monday morning, parked his truck and walked to her home, forced his way in and shot her, Jefferson police Chief Joe Wirthman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He then took her car and led authorities on a day-long manhunt until he was found dead near Clarke Central High School in Athens.
Sunday, Christopher Erdman met his ex-girlfriend Shannon Lawrence in Milton to exchange custody of their children. Police said he shot her as their toddlers – ages 1 and 3 – watched.
They were scheduled to meet in a public place, but police said Erdman called Lawrence to move the meet to a more remote place.
A day earlier, Alena Marble’s body was found in the trunk of her abandoned car after her daughter’s boyfriend beat her and wrapped her alive in a rug to stuff into the back of the vehicle, Clayton County police said.
Marble’s daughter, Kajul Harvey, 21, and her 20-year-old boyfriend Latoris Grovner were arrested and charged with murder. Harvey had a temporary protective order against Grovner, authorities said.
Also on Saturday, Kyle Webb and his mother Wilma Webb were found dead in their Roswell home.
Faced with financial troubles, police said Kyle Webb killed his mother then himself, leaving instructions for their funerals.
“I really see it as bad economy making it more lethal,” Smith said. “People who are out of work or lose their jobs or homes, it just exacerbates the violence.”
Jean Douglas, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, said Lawrence’s death was particularly preventable, given the temporary protective order the mother had put on Erdman.
“Most times, women want their children to have interaction with the father, but she just wants to be safe,” Douglas said. “I think that in some instances, where there are major safety concerns, there should not be visitation or exchange, period.”
She pointed to supervised custody exchanges like the ones provided by her organization, and said victims of domestic violence shouldn’t have to face their intimidators alone.
And the effects of domestic violence can pass over generations.
While Clayton police say Grovner and Harvey conspired to kill Marble, neighbors said he’d broken his girlfriend’s arm at one point. Douglas wondered allowed if Harvey acted out of fear.
“Did she feel like if she didn’t participate, he’d try to kill her, too?” Douglas asked.
Nuriddin lamented that children witnessed the violence both in Clayton County and in Milton.
“Stop and you think about the devastation that that’s going to have on those little people for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Each of these organizations ask that if domestic violence is suspected in a home, or if someone is a victim of violence, to call the state’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-334-2836.
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