Jacksonville's domestic abuse deaths reach 19 in 2021, higher than 2020

LaShonda Wilson thought she had done everything right to get away from her abusive, possessive and domineering husband in July 2003, sister LaToya Calhoun says.

As Calhoun joined Hubbard House shelter staff, police and prosecutors to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month, she said her 21-year-old sister had secretly moved out and gotten an injunction against James Arthur Reed, a registered sex offender with an arrest record for domestic battery, assault and a firearms violation.

Then late on July 16, 2003, the women heard a window shatter in their new second-floor apartment, and Reed killed his wife before shooting himself to death as Calhoun was nearby.

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"It is her story that I tell with the hope of encouraging anyone out there who needs to find support to find it, find the strength and the help to leave," Calhoun said, still emotional 19 years later.

"There are organizations like Hubbard House here to help you," she said. "And for anyone else out there, be there for the survivors and offer your support."

Those pleas become more urgent with the release of 2021's 17 domestic abuse fatality cases reviewed by the State Attorney's Office's Fatality Review Committee, showing 19 people dead, four more than 2020's total.

"The goal of reaching zero domestic homicides may be a challenge, but it is nonetheless a meaningful goal," Assistant State Attorney Khary Gaynor said. "... We cannot achieve this alone. We call our community to action and vigilance in pursuing abuses. As police have pointed out, no one deserves to be abused."

His words were reinforced by Gail Patin, CEO of Hubbard House, Jacksonville's longtime domestic abuse shelter and counseling site. Patin said the community must be there for all survivors and report any signs of abuse.

"'I encourage everyone to pledge, no more. No more sitting by and hoping for things to get better," Patin said. "Instead, we can all join in saying to survivors, 'I am here for you," and 'We are here for you.' It is a message to survivors that you are not alone."

Domestic violence statistical breakdown

Gaynor is part of a team of law enforcement and prosecution experts who have researched domestic abuse cases for the past 25 years as part of an annual Fatality Review Committee. They seek patterns in domestic abuse deaths that might have been prevented by revised responses from law enforcement or other agencies.

Reviewing all of 2021's deaths, 71% involved male suspects, the report states. In 11 intimate partner cases, 64% were male suspects. That compares to past reports done from 1997 to 2021 showing that males committed 75% of intimate partner homicides.

"These show an overwhelming disparity in that women remain extremely vulnerable in domestic violence situations," Gaynor said.

In 2021, 67% of the victims were Black, 28% white and the rest Hispanic.

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Guns remain the primary weapon used in domestic homicides, 2021's 71% figure is 7% higher than in 2020, the report said. Knives were the next most common at 18%.

Three of the suspects (27%) were women killing men, while 18% involved same-sex couples, the report said. And 73% were between people who were living together.

"It is recommended that more consideration be given when victims request injunctions that restrict an abuser from returning to the home, and law enforcement and social services should refer victims to shelters," Gaynor said.

In the 1997 to 2021 statistics, 75%t of the overall cases were men killing women, with 22% for women killing men, and the rest involving same-sex couples.

Domestic sadness in 2022

So far this year there have been plenty more domestic-related homicides.

• On Sept. 19 Gabrielle Nichole Bolton, 18, was found dead wrapped up in a shower curtain and towel in her home on West 33rd Street, according to an arrest report. The next day, Isaiah Jamal Greene, also 18, was charged in her death. They were a boyfriend and girlfriend living together, but Greene called his mother stating “She’s lying and cheating on me” and “I didn’t mean to do it."

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• On July 23 Tasheka Young, a radio personality also known as "Tysheeks," was a pregnant shooting victim at the Mission Pointe Apartments on Biscayne Boulevard. Bursey Jerome Armstrong, the 33-year-old father of their two children, was later charged with killing her and her unborn child, according to court records.

• On July 12, 23-year-old Beverly Ann Febres's body was found in Marco Lake on Sorrento Road, police said. On July 28, police arrested boyfriend Dedric Jaquan Rashan Wesley, 26, on a murder charge. Febres had two gunshot wounds to her head, with a tattoo on her arm with Wesley's name, police reports state.

• On April 29 three siblings were shot dead at River City Landing apartments on University Boulevard. One, 34-year-old Johnisha Tamara Williams, was the mother of the suspect's son. Terrell Maurice Lewis, 37, was arrested in their deaths. He had multiple domestic-violence arrests and injunctions and also is charged with the March 20 homicide of a 24-year-old woman on Welland Road.

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But based on the Fatality Review Committee's investigation of 2022 domestic violence homicides as of late summer, Gaynor said the numbers do not appear to be higher than they have been in recent years.

Typically there's not more than 20 but is usually 15 to 20, he said.

"Not all domestic homicides would be qualified under the fatality review," he noted. "... All sibling violence and things like that are not necessarily calculated."

Sadly, Gaynor said, law enforcement isn't notified of ongoing domestic violence in many cases.

Wilson tried to do the right things

Then there is Wilson's 2003 homicide.

At that time, homicide Sgt. Scott McLeod told the Times-Union that her husband was intent on killing her. The 26-year-old had threatened to do so, forcing her to seek a restraining order against him.

"I am in fear for my life," she wrote in the order, adding that Reed had told her "if I ever left him, he would kill me."

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A judge granted a temporary injunction, but police hadn't served Reed with it when Wilson was killed, McLeod said.

Calhoun said the family had seen warning signs of an abusive relationship, such as when "he would pull a gun on her" or locked her in a house without her phone so she could not call for help. But as Wilson spent years hiding the mental, verbal and physical abuse she underwent, Calhoun said the family thought this is who Wilson wanted to be with.

Finally, Wilson filed that restraining order as Calhoun helped her secretly move. But Reed found out and kept calling.

"She answered, and just from that short call, I can tell from her voice now that she's scared," Calhoun said Monday.

Reed then showed up at their home one day "beating at the door," she said.

"I found 'Bumper' hiding between the dresser and the bed with a look of horror on her face," Calhoun said, using her sister's nickname. "She said, 'He is going to kill me.'"

In a 2003 interview, McLeod said Reed returned the next night to the apartment with a ladder and sawed-off shotgun and climbed up to Wilson.

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"She said, 'I will go with you, baby," trying anything she could to calm him down," Calhoun remembered. "... He said 'If I can't have you, nobody will,' and he shot her in the face."

Reed then shot himself, she said.

On Monday, Sheriff's Office Investigations Director Jackson Short said "help is just a phone call away" for those suffering from domestic abuse or those who witness it in family or friends.

"I wish I had known what else could have been done," Calhoun said. "Now it is awareness, offering help and letting people know that they are not alone."

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

Domestic abuse resources

Jacksonville's Hubbard House 24-hour hotline: (904) 354-3114 and 24-hour text message line (904) 210-3698

Clay County's Quigley House 24-hour Crisis Hotline: (904)284-0061

Nassau County's Micah's Place 24-hour hotline and text message line: (904) 225-9979

Florida Domestic Violence Hotline: (800) 500-1119

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville cites increase in domestic violence deaths