Act now to stop domestic violence

Virginia has not done enough to prevent domestic violence and protect victims

It’s easy to pore over a mountain of statistics and get lost in the data, eyes glazed over and mind numb, so let us put a name and a face and a personality to the scourge of domestic violence in our communities.

Sammi Jo Burkhart was 37 years old when she was shot to death at a Chesapeake apartment in February. She was described by friends in a Feb. 25 story as vivacious and mischievous, a free spirit. Police say she was killed by an intimate partner with a record of violence against women.

That’s often the way, isn’t it? A guy who hits women either gets away with it or gets a slap on the wrist. Sent to counseling. Pledges to do better. Mitigating factors might put him behind bars for a while.

But, particularly in homicide cases, the accused usually has a record of escalating offenses. We know what’s coming. We can see the trajectory. Yet we still find ourselves mourning victims, decrying the perpetrators and promising that this time, surely, will be the last.

In Burkhart’s case, an ex-boyfriend stands charged with first-degree murder and a litany of other offenses in her death. He has a history of violence, and twice served time in prison for attacks against women.

He was also charged with misdemeanor assault against Burkhart in November. According to Pilot reporting, he was released on bond Dec. 29. And in January, a former partner — the mother of his children — swore out felony charges against him, including assault, abduction, and breaking and entering while armed with a weapon.

But law enforcement did not locate or arrest him before Burkhart’s shooting death in February. One wonders why he wasn’t behind bars from the November case, given his lengthy record of violence. And one wonders how he obtained the firearm which he is charged with using in Burkhart’s death.

Those are questions that may be answered in the court proceedings. But the broad facts of the case suggest that Virginia still has not done enough to protect women from the potential of violence by their spouses or significant others, even when there are numerous red flags.

According to the latest attorney general’s report on domestic violence, submitted in December, “there were more than 68,000 calls to domestic and sexual violence hotlines (in 2019). A total of

3,726 adults and 2,892 children received 228,703 nights of emergency or temporary shelter due to domestic violence; however, 846 families requesting shelter services were turned away due to lack of shelter space … 56,962 emergency protective orders were issued.”

Expect the next report to be even worse when it reflects numbers from the pandemic. Stay-at-home orders intended to protect public health also meant more victims isolated in abusive relationships. More threats, more violence and more deaths are the likely results.

The attorney general’s annual report suggests the need for more shelters and better funding to help people escape danger. The financial obstacle to leaving an abusive relationship is often high and must be lowered. We need to help those at risk.

But we also need to make clear that those with a history of violence cannot obtain firearms and should have their weapons seized by authorities. Virginia has made significant strides on this, but the law still tilts too heavily toward gun rights.

And Virginia needs more from its legal system. Too often we see cases where an abuser grows more brazen and more violent. Judges and magistrates aren’t helpless and they must do better to intervene and provide protection before the worst happens — as it too often does.

The question before us now is whether this tragedy will at last compel Virginia to take aggressive action against domestic violence — to harshly punish offenders and better care for victims — or whether Burkhart’s death will be allowed to fade into memory, her name replaced by the next victim.

And the next. And the next. And the next.