Victim in Hillsborough murder case feared ex, records show

While in custody, Diggs told a police officer he’d been having relationship problems with his girlfriend, the report says.

“Mr. Diggs then told me, ‘S—t went down Wednesday morning’,” the officer wrote in a report. The officer reported that Diggs told him, “On the way out here, I made peace with god.”

Investigators noted Diggs had fresh cuts on his right hand, blood on his shoes, and the soles had a distinctive pattern that matched bloody shoeprints in Lorde’s apartment. They found apparent blood on the Chevy’s front seat and gear shift. Lorde’s purse was in the car.

The evidence in the apartment appears to show that Lorde moved throughout the home after being stabbed and that Diggs followed her, making “a conscious effort” to continue to stab her, the arrest report says. That showed he killed her from a “premeditated design.”

Diggs was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on Tuesday and was being held without bail. His arraignment and a pre-trial detention hearing are set for later this month.

In mid-December, LaPorte posted on Facebook about her daughter’s death. She urged people in abusive relationships to seek help.

“If a man or woman is hitting on you don’t give them a chance to apologize cuz it will happen again,” she wrote. “The hardest thing I had to ever do in my life is to tell my three grandkids their mother is dead.”

Power and control

The dynamic of escalating abuse and fear described in Lorde’s petitions is common in relationships marked by domestic violence, said Lariana Forsythe, CEO of Pinellas County’s domestic violence agency Community Action Stops Abuse, or CASA.

Statistics show that domestic violence survivors go back to their abusers an average of seven times, that abusers often try to keep survivors from leaving the relationship, and that the period when a survivor decides to leave is typically the most dangerous for them, Forsythe said. Violence also tends to escalate when a woman is pregnant.

A restraining order is a useful tool, but it’s “only a piece of paper at the end of the day,” Forsythe said.

“For her abuser, it was about power and control,” she said.

Forsythe noted that In the second petition, Lorde wrote that she didn’t have anywhere to go because she was scared to go home. She pointed out that shelters like CASA’s are only one piece of a wider array of services that include other housing programs, victim compensation and mental health and legal support. The services are free and confidential and can be accessed by calling the state or local support hotlines.

“If they’re scared, if they’re in a domestic violence situation, call and try and figure out what resources are available that can help them develop a safe plan to extricate themselves and their children from a dangerous situation,” Forsythe said.

How to get help

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The Florida Partnership to End Domestic Violence at 800-5001119 or via TDD at 800-621-4202.

Domestic violence warning signs

Abuser isolates victim from friends or family.

Victim is encouraged or forced to stop participating in activities important to them.

Abuser controls finances or puts victim on an allowance, asks for explanations of spending.

Victim is blamed for their feelings, yelled at or made to feel “small.”

Abuser criticizes and controls victim’s appearance, including what they can wear.

Abuser abandons victim in places they don’t know.

Abuser keeps victim from eating, sleeping or getting medical care.

Abuser throws or punches things around victim.