Michigan Deaths From Domestic Abuse ‘Soar’

In case there’s any confusion as to whether we need to fund domestic programs …

Domestic deaths soar
Fatalities from abuse jump 74% in Michigan

Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News

ECONOMY? What’s the CAUSE that people suspect?

Domestic violence deaths have risen dramatically in Michigan , prompting state advocates to call for more money and better protection for the victims of abuse.

The disappearance and death of Tara Grant — allegedly at the hands of her husband, Stephen Grant — is the most recent high-profile victim, but just one tragic ending in a troubling trend, advocates say.

“We need to have stricter laws, more services, whatever it takes to stop it,” said Alicia Standerfer, the sister of Tara Grant. Police say Stephen Grant, charged with first degree murder, confessed to strangling his wife and dismembering her body.

Domestic violence fatalities in Michigan jumped 74 percent between 2004 and 2005, the most recent data available. Nationally, they declined XX percent over the same period, according to XXX.

The trend is not letting up. Last year, nearly 7,000 victims were turned away from local domestic violence shelters because beds were full, an increase of 12 percent over 2005, according to the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board.

The support system in Michigan has become so taxed that during a 24-hour period in November, 227 requests for emergency shelter, transitional housing and other services were not met because of lack of funding, limited staff and overflowing shelters, according to a report out this month from the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

“We know domestic violence is not going down, and that’s alarming,” said Sue Coats, CEO of Turning Point, an agency that serves victims of domestic and sexual violence in Macomb County.

Some argue that the statistic don’t show the whole picture.

The number of domestic violence fatalities in Michigan may actually be closer to 100 each year, said Kathy Hagenian, executive policy director for the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Domestic violence deaths — mostly women dying at the hands of a current or former spouse or boyfriend — are not always categorized as such, though law enforcement agencies are doing a better job, she said.

More seek help

One thing that is clear is that victims are plentiful.

“We have an increase in people seeking help,” Hagenian said. “Are they always getting the help they need? We can see by the homicides that no, they may not be.”

The reason could be, in part, that state funding to core services for state domestic violence programs has not changed in 20 years, Hagenian said. Meanwhile, other states have beefed up funding for such programs and strengthened laws.

Jaycee Memminger says she was turned away when she sought help from a Detroit agency after her husband, Leonard, locked her and their two children out of their home and froze her bank account in response to her filing for divorce.

Luckily, a friend loaned her money for a hotel room.

“I don’t know what I would have done,” she said.

Memminger says the courts weren’t much help, either, when Leonard violated a personal protection order 13 times. Each time, she said, he would be jailed for 24 hours.

“Within 30 minutes (of being released), he’s in the door and I am on the phone again calling police,” said Memminger, 43. “Every time he violated the PPO, they gave him a slap on the wrist and only said, ‘We’re warning you.’ ”

It wasn’t until Leonard shot her twice in the face, almost killing her, in 2004 that the justice system came to her aid, sentenced him to 22 years in prison, Memminger said.

Increased study

Turning Point, the Macomb County domestic violence agency, recently collaborated with community officials to study what systems failed five women whose deaths were linked to domestic violence. Their study resulted in the state’s first report on how to address gaps in system, such as developing uniform police investigation methods and tactics for pursuit of abusers who flee the scene of a domestic assault.

Oakland County plans to issue a similar report in upcoming months.

A U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report in December showed a decline in domestic violence and related fatalities throughout the nation, though some Michigan advocates considered the report faulty because of how it defined intimate partner violence, said Hagenian.

You can reach Kim Kozlowski at (313) 222-2024 or kkozlowski@detnews.com.

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