Daughter of Wilmington domestic violence shooting victim works to turn pain into advocacy

Rachel Knowles' voice trembled as she recalled the "horrific" night her mother died at the hands of her stepfather before he turned the gun on himself.

"I watched my mother die," she said.

Remembering doesn't get any easier. As Knowles saw her mother's bright blue eyes fade in her final moments, all she could do was hold her tight and say one more time how much she loved her.

“I just hope she heard me,” Knowles said.

Less than two months after the murder-suicide at Holly Tree Racquet Cub shocked the community, Knowles is working to use her pain and her mother’s story to enact change, raise awareness and support domestic violence survivors in Wilmington.

“We just want to raise awareness and funds for this cause, and just try to get as much good out of a bad situation as we can,” Knowles said.

Knowles officially announced this week she is working with Holly Tree Racquet Club and the Greater Wilmington Tennis Association to organize a tennis tournament – dubbed “Raise a Racquet Against Domestic Violence” – in memory of her mother, MaryAnn Breault, who was killed at the club on Dec. 7, 2021.

All proceeds from the March event will go to Wilmington’s Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc., Knowles said.

Earlier coverage: Wilmington police investigate shooting on Holly Tree Road

Candy Pegram, community coordinator for the Greater Wilmington Tennis Association, said the tennis community was hit hard by the tragedy, and she hopes this event will lead to healing.

“Holly Tree Racquet Club is very much at the heart of Wilmington tennis,” Pegram said. “So when this tragic event happened there, obviously it really kind of shook our little tennis community to the core and we really wanted to rally around the family and the staff and the members.”

'A loving mother'

Knowles, 26, is the oldest of Breault’s three children and currently lives in Kentucky. Breault, her 12-year-old son and her husband moved to Wilmington three years ago, Knowles said.

Knowles said it’s her mother’s strength that has inspired her to share her story.

“She loved her kids,” Knowles said. “She was there for us every step of the way. She loved us so much, she bragged about us so much, almost to the point of embarrassment. She was just so proud.”

The best way to describer her, Knowles said, is "she was a loving mother."

In the days and weeks following her death, Knowles said she struggled to believe she couldn’t talk to her mom anymore. She couldn’t remember a time where she’d gone a day without talking to her, let alone weeks and now months.

“We talked every single day,” Knowles said. “Even a week after this happened, I just couldn’t believe I hadn’t talked to my mom in a week. She was never inaccessible to me.”

Finding strength to leave

Knowles said she was in first or second grade when her stepfather entered the family, and the relationship slowly became abusive.

“He had been abusing us since I was a kid,” she said. “He was abusive in every way – physical, mental, emotional, stalking and tracing, financial abuse, isolation. You never knew what was going to set him off.”

Knowles said the abuse continued through her teenage years, and her mother worked tirelessly to protect her and her siblings, though she was “powerless” against her stepfather.

“It’s so much easier when you’re not in that situation,” she said. “She was a person that was so full of love and hope and optimism that she thought she could fix this situation somehow. She always tried to bring us all closer together and just didn’t understand that the person that she was with was using that love against her to further isolate her and further manipulate her.”

In the months before her death, Breault had decided to leave her husband. She’d been talking to attorneys and looking for apartments to lease. Knowles said she believes her stepfather escalated to extreme violence because he was losing control.

“He wasn’t going to let her go,” she said.

Breault's obituary reads, in part: "MaryAnn died a victim of domestic violence, but she never let it define how she lived. She tackled every day with a smile, despite her hardships."

Work to be done

Knowles said through this tragedy, she’s found a new passion for raising awareness about domestic violence, and hopes to see more resources and supports for people trying to leave violent relationships.

“When you try to leave an abusive situation, the odds are stacked against you,” Knowles said. “It is more dangerous to leave than it is to stay.”

Mandy Houvouras, director of direct services and outreach with Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc., said domestic violence is traumatic for the families involved, but it can also cause ripple effects through communities.

“It’s so important when something like this happens that we remember that the abuser is the one who must be held accountable,” she said.

More: As pandemic brings 'alarming increase' in domestic violence, New Hanover agencies scramble to help

Knowles said while “there’s work to be done” to help survivors of domestic violence leave unsafe relationships, she only blames her stepfather for what happened that night.

“He made a choice,” she said. “This is completely on him.”

The tournament is set to take place at Holly Tree Racquet Club March 4-6. A memorial bench will be unveiled at the club in Breault’s honor, Knowles said. More information and how to register can be found at wilmingtontennis.com.

Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc. can be reached at 910-343-0703.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Daughter of a domestic violence shooting victim works to enact change