Killing highlights issues in domestic abuse cases

OKLAHOMA CITY — A case involving an Oklahoma City man killed two days after he was sentenced to probation for his second domestic abuse conviction in six months highlights a common struggle for authorities: how to stop abusers when victims won’t testify, a prosecutor and anti-violence advocates say.

The Oklahoma County district attorney’s office is reviewing the case to decide whether to file charges against the man’s wife. Christina Maria Mason, 33, told police she fatally shot her husband, Boyd Quisenberry, 39, when he attacked her with a knife Nov. 29. Detectives interviewed Mason but did not arrest her.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater will determine whether Mason should face charges. He could decide the shooting was self-defense. Oklahoma City police are investigating the shooting and will provide a report to Prater’s office, a process Sgt. Gary Knight said can take up to three weeks.

Prater said Mason refused to testify about the domestic abuse, which forced a plea bargain for Quisenberry that resulted in probation as punishment rather than jail time. Prater and advocates for abuse victims say victims have many complicated reasons for refusing to appear in a courtroom, but that can lead to attackers going free — and back home to those they hurt.

Quisenberry was given a three-year suspended sentence Nov. 27 after pleading guilty to domestic abuse assault and battery and violating a protective order. Earlier this year, he received a threeyear suspended sentence after pleading guilty to domestic abuse by strangulation and 90 days in county jail on a charge of interfering with an emergency telephone call.

Mason did not show up to testify in either case, Prater said, and prosecutors risked not getting a conviction at all without her testimony.

“She refused to cooperate and we’re not able to get her to court,” Prater said. “We basically had to agree to probation.”