ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997 TAG: 9704100044
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
Two shattering cases of domestic slayings in Western Virginia may prompt feelings of despair. But society - and potential victims - can act to reduce violence.
IN A ROANOKE apartment, a man shoots and kills his girlfriend and her mother. In a mobile home in Hillsville, a man shoots and kills his wife and their daughter.
In two days' time last week, Western Virginia witnessed the horrible complexities of domestic violence, and was left struggling with the question of what, if anything, could have saved these women.
In both cases, the women had taken out warrants against their eventual killers. In both cases, police had responded seriously. In the Hillsville case, in particular, Audrey Dalton had done everything a woman is told she must do to protect herself from a violent domestic partner.
She had moved herself and her children to a shelter. She had obtained a protective court order barring her husband from their mobile home until she had removed her belongings. She was accompanied by police when she went to pick up her things. And she was killed by Donnie Ray Dalton, lying in wait inside, as she approached the trailer.
A fair conclusion: Communities can provide shelters, well-trained law officers can respond appropriately, courts can prosecute vigorously - and still, some killers will not be stopped. That is the grim reality, but it is not the whole reality.
A lot of violence is stopped.
Because society, at last, recognizes domestic violence as crime, studies its patterns and tries to fight it, experts are better - though far from perfect - at predicting when it might turn deadly. According to Virginians Against Domestic Violence, several indicators can help abused women decide when they need to run for their lives.
Men who witnessed or were victims of violence in their childhoods (one of the highest risk factors), who abuse alcohol, or who are violent with children or anyone other than their wives or girlfriends - all present a greater risk of seriously injuring or killing someone. And, while abuse crosses all socioeconomic bounds, the lower an abuser's income and education, the more likely he is to do serious injury.
Domestic violence has been seriously researched in only the past 20 years or so. Much is unknown. But the statewide anti-violence group warns women: Don't rely on gut feelings about how far a violent person will go. Consider the indicators, and don't be afraid to save yourself.
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