Domestic violence details all too familiar

It can’t be only on the victim to find protection. It can’t be left to hope that an abuser does not follow through on threats.

The details of a recent tragedy in Bethel are shocking, but also numbing. A woman warned authorities about her former partner's abusive behavior. She said she feared for her life. She asked for protection. Instead, in a terrifying recurrence of an all-too-common phenomenon, she was killed by the person she had warned others about, who then killed himself. Only now, after it's too late, are details coming to light of who knew what when, and what could have been done to save a life. It's all the more infuriating that the same pattern keeps repeating itself. It was just in December that a woman was killed in Milford after repeatedly warning that the man eventually charged in her homicide was dangerous and a threat to her well-being. "I am scared for the safety of my children and I,” she had written in a court filing a month earlier. “I'm scared he's going to kill me." The Bethel case showed similar patterns. Traci-Marie Jones had filed a protective order against her estranged husband, indicating that he was in possession of firearms and a danger to her and others. “I am in constant fear daily of what I will come home to,” she wrote in a court filing. Weeks later, she was dead. This is a failure on all levels. It's a failure to stop people from committing harm even when all warning signs should be flashing. It's a failure to protect someone who is desperately afraid for her life. It's a failure to take seriously the warnings from people who know best the seriousness of a situation. For the past two decades, Connecticut has averaged 14 deaths a year from domestic violence despite changes in the laws to protect victims. Advocates have said funding to protect victims and provide treatment for offenders has been lacking. Fourteen deaths is a tragic figure, but it also doesn't come close to capturing the scope of the problem. Victims often live in terror for weeks or months at a time. Domestic violence cases that do not end in homicides can still lead to severe trauma, including injuries, that the system does little to offer protection from. Connecticut courts issue more than 30,000 protective and restraining orders for family violence every year. Not enough is being done for the most serious cases. The state has many needs, but it's hard to think of something more pressing than the need to protect people from harassment, violence and ultimately murder. As of 2021, Connecticut ranked 25th in the nation for spending on shelters and programs per capita. We can and must do better. It can't be only on the victim to find protection. It can't be left to hope that an abuser does not follow through on threats. There are far too many cases, as we have seen recently, of victims warning authorities that the worst was about to happen, and then that exact scenario played out. It can't be allowed to continue.