UAADV ~SC~ Live

In 2005, South Carolina ranked seventh in the United States for the rate of women killed by men.

--43 women were killed by men.

--22 victims were black, and 21 victims were white.

--38 knew their suspected killers.

--30 were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives or girlfriends of the offenders.

--21 women were shot to death; 17 of those were killed with handguns.

--Nine women were slain with knives.

--Five women were killed by bodily force.

--One woman was killed with a blunt object.

'06 slayings spotlight S.C. domestic violence

By Jill Coley (Contact)

The Post and Courier

With the first anniversary of his family's slaying approaching, Christan Rainey plans to spend some quiet time alone in his Baton Rouge, La., apartment.

On Sept. 30, 2006, his immediate family was gunned down in a North Charleston mobile home. In a sweeping act of violence, Rainey lost his mother, Detra Rainey, and four siblings.

Michael Anthony Simmons, Detra Rainey's husband of one year, awaits trial, charged with five counts of murder.

An overwhelming majority of women slain by men in South Carolina know their killers, according to the latest report from the Violence Policy Center. The

Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group analyzed 2005 homicide figures and found that all but five of the 43 women slain in South Carolina knew their killers. Thirty were wives, ex-wives or girlfriends of the assailants.

Nationally, black women were killed at a rate nearly three times higher than white women in 2005, according to the study. In South Carolina, 22 of the women killed by men were black, and 21 were white.

Nearly a year has passed since Christan Rainey received the terrible news, and he still struggles to make sense of it.

"You can look at everything from a religious aspect — that everything happened for a reason — but you're still forced to live with it," Rainey said.

"I wish I could have stayed home. Things would have been different," he said. "Michael never tried to disrespect my mom around me. I would not tolerate that."

The state moved down to No. 7 in the U.S. for its rate of women killed by men in 2005, with 1.97 deaths per 100,000 people. South Carolina ranked sixth for three years after it held the ignominious first place spot in 2001.

Vicki Bourus, executive director of the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, said, "We're praying this downward trend continues. It's certainly hopeful."

Bourus attributes the drop to a series of policy and legislative changes. A 2005 criminal domestic violence bill increased fines and sentences. Second offenses moved from the magistrate level to general sessions court, and third offenses became felonies with a minimum one-year sentence, up from a misdemeanor charge and minimum 90-day sentence.

Domestic violence courts are opening up across the state. These courts, which are led by judges more educated in domestic violence issues, lead to fewer dropped cases, better referrals to shelters and treatment for the batterers, Bourus said.

Also, state Attorney General Henry McMaster worked with the General Assembly to fund criminal domestic violence prosecutors. As this force takes shape in 2007, a team of established pro bono attorneys are helping prosecute cases at the first-offense magistrate level.

"Ranking No. 7 in the nation in something so hideous, as domestic violence is a terrible shame for South Carolina," said Mark Plowden, spokesman for McMaster.

Criminal domestic violence is the worst criminal problem facing the state, Plowden said. "Moving down a spot from No. 6 is encouraging, but more a glaring reminder that much, much more work must be done in this state," he said.

McMaster is expected to release 2006 figures on male and female victims killed by domestic violence at the 10th annual Silent Witness ceremony Oct. 1 in Columbia. Those numbers will be used by the Violence Policy Center for its next study.

Rainey, who is majoring in computer science at Southern University, works 40 hours a week at a Wal-Mart tire and lube service department to pay for his education.

"I wanted to come home, but I'm in school, and it's hard to come home," he said by phone from Baton Rouge.

When people gather at the steps of the Statehouse in Columbia to honor those killed by domestic violence last year, Rainey will hold a lone vigil in Louisiana.

With his compass gone, he doesn't know where home is. "I don't know where I'm happier at. I love being in Charleston ... but it's hard being there because you know something's missing."

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.

GREENVILLE, S.C. --

Month-Old Baby's Skull Fractured; Father Arrested

Father Hit Baby, Fractured His Skull, Deputies Say

 Deputies arrested the father of a 1-month-old baby whose skull was found to be fractured.
Deputies said the investigation started after the baby's parents took him to the hospital. They told doctors that their child was just not acting normally.
"The mother is the one that noticed something wasn't right," said Master Deputy Michael Hildebrand. "She called her parents and that's how the child ended up in the hospital."
Doctors said when the baby boy arrived at the hospital last Tuesday, he had several fractures in his skull. Doctors told deputies the injuries appeared to be the result of child abuse.

Investigators then started asking the baby's parents questions.
"The father came down here for an interview," Hildebrand said. "As we were talking to him he admitted to hitting the child in the head, which we believed caused some of the fractures."
Deputies said 26-year-old William Dickson admitted he hit the baby on Jan. 12. They said the baby wasn't taken to a doctor until five days later.
The baby is now hooked up to a ventilator, but is expected to recover.
Dickson was being held at the Greenville County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHESTER, South Carolina (AP) -- South Carolina man held his wife and two sons captive for nearly four years, a in a house infested with maggots and human waste, authorities said.

The boys slept on a bare mattress.  Their mother was kept in a drug-induced stupor. Police found maggots in the refrigerator. Human waste and used toilet paper littered the bathroom floor, and the house smelled like a dead animal, according to police photographs and authorities who visited the home after Dove was arrested this week.

"There was chaos everywhere," Chester County Sheriff's Detective Scott Thompson said Thursday. "I don't think we'll ever really determine how it happened -- how you get to live like that. I think he got so wrapped up in drugs and wanting to control everything, nothing else mattered."

The young boys, ages 4 and 8, did not go to school. and wererarely were allowed out of the house. A video camera monitored their room and the doors to the home.

Dove, 45, fed his wife, Tamara, with prescription painkillers, cocaine and crack, and forbade her to go outside, police said. Thompson said he did not expect the 37-year-old mother would be lucid enough to be interviewed for weeks.

"People don't understand why she just doesn't leave," Thompson said. "But with a little intimidation and a lot of drug use, this is what they grew to know as normal life."

Dove was charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of criminal conspiracy, operating a gambling establishment and two counts of child neglect. He remained in jail Thursday without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

But Dove's mother said that her son held no one hostage and that his wife was the root of the couple's drug addiction.

"She's driven my son crazy," Helaine Young said in an interview at her home.

Young said she threw up when she visited the home with police, her first visit since Christmas 2005, when she said she left after being threatened by her daughter-in-law.

Young said her son was once a wealthy owner of several convenience stores, paying for anything his wife requested, including baby sitters and house cleaners. Her son installed the cameras for the family's security when he renovated the home in a rural town near the North Carolina line, she said. The pair met about 13 years ago, Young said.

Young, who has taken care of the couple's 12-year-old son since he was an infant, said she has asked the Department of Social Services repeatedly over the last six years to investigate.

"We have had reports in the past, and the nature of the reports are currently under review," agency spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said. "It's too early to tell what exactly happened when."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rest in Peace

Sandra and Jesse

York County Detectives Rule Deaths Of Mother, Son A Murder-Suicide

YORK COUNTY, S.C. -- Detectives say a York County woman killed her child before shooting herself in a house on Saluda Road on Thursday evening.

The woman's boyfriend and the boy's father, Joe Helms, came home from work and found the two dead on the kitchen floor at the home near Autumnwood Drive, right at the York and Chester County line. He called 911 around 6:45 p.m.

Detectives with the York County Sheriff's Department said the woman, 46-year-old Sandra Sue Glover, shot 7-year-old Jesse Helms in the back and in the head before turning the revolver on herself. The weapon was still in her hand when deputies arrived.

Glover had been convicted of domestic violence against her boyfriend earlier in the week. The judge gave her a suspended sentence but said she had to agree to alcohol counseling and had to take a course for batter

ers. The couple was also ordered to stay apart.

York County Sheriff's Lieutenant Tim Hager said officials are trying to put together a timeline of the incident. Glover picked her son up from Oakdale Elementary School, which she was allowed to do, and the shootings occurred sometime after 4 p.m., Hager said.

Investigators would not say whether Glover left a note. Autopsies are being conducted on both bodies.

Officers say they're having a hard time with the investigation because many of them have young children themselves.

"Everybody on scene from the uniform guys up to the captain has kids, so we had a job to do and we did it, but now the reality is sinking in a little bit, and it's a bit tough," Hager said.

Neighbors and the boy's classmates are also trying to make sense of the tragedy. Oakdale Elementary School's flag was flown at half-staff in honor of Jesse Helms, who others described as happy and gentle. They said he loved school.

Principal Neil McVann said he feels a deep hurt for Jesse's teacher, who had to break the news to her class of second-graders that one of their own is gone.

"She is a true professional and really has a heart for the kids, and I think she'll do a lot of crying this weekend," he said.

McVann said Glover always picked her son up, and he never thought anything was wrong. The incident has left him flabbergasted.

posted 11:19 am Mon June 16, 2008 - South Carolina

Colin Nathaniel Custer was found with his father, Robert William Custer II, 45, in Virginia.  Authorities cancelled the amber alert around 6:00 p.m.

The alert was issued in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia after Lexington County authorities found the boy's mother locked in a gas station bathroom Monday morning. She told them the child's father abducted them Sunday after a court-ordered visitation.

Robert Custer has a history of violence with women.  Renee Pennell-Rashell says Custer placed a cloth over her mouth and nose and she lost consciousness.

There is no word on charges in this case.

Judges are banning terms such as 'rape' and 'victim' as prejudicial to defendants????

LAW.COM

Call it the age of the Loaded Word.
A steadily increasing number of courts across the United States are prohibiting witnesses and victims from uttering certain words in front of a jury, banning everything from the words "rape" to "victim" to "crime scene."
Prosecutors and victims' rights advocates nationwide claim the courts are going too far in trying to cleanse witness testimony, all to protect a defendant's right to a fair trial. Concerns and fears over language restrictions have been percolating ever since judges in Nebraska and Missouri last year banned the word "rape" during rape trials.

INSULTING WITNESSES?
Marquis, who is the district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore., said courts telling witnesses and victims how to tell their story insults them, as well as the intelligence of jurors.
"You have a woman who's been raped and she has to say that she had sexual intercourse with the man, rather than calling him her attacker?" Marquis said. "I think this is going 50 years back in our legal evolution."
Not quite, counter criminal defense lawyers, who argue that certain words like "victim" and "rape" and "murder" conflict with the presumption of innocence, and therefore, should be kept out of trial.

RIGHT TO TELL A STORY
Wendy J. Murphy of the New England School of Law, who is representing a Nebraska rape victim opposing the judge's barring of the word "rape," said the major battle facing prosecutors and victims now is fighting judges' censorship orders.

MORE>>>>