HOUSTON — Family violence is a story that tragically keeps repeating itself in our community. Just Thursday night in Cypress, investigators say 32-year-old Gregorio Gaitan shot and killed his mother-in-law after holding his wife and children at gunpoint.
"He turned his attention to the mother in law and shot her multiple times. He then fled the scene," said Sgt. Denis Woolford with Harris County Sheriff's Office.
But that wasn’t the only incident. In Fort Bend County, the Sheriff’s Office says a mother was killed by her 19-year-old son.
The Houston Area Women’s Center says unfortunately this has been a horrible trend in our area. And they’ve noticed a spike in families looking for help.
"Tragically we have seen a dramatic rise in request for services and calls to our hotline," said Emily Whitehurst CEO of the Houston Area Women's Center.
They tell us in 2019 they fielded 39,615 calls. And in 2020 that increased by more than 6,000 with a total of 46,000 calls for the year.
Whitehurst said they’ve tripled the number of people they’ve placed in a shelter. In 2019, they housed 153 people at local hotels, but in 2020, they housed 557 people. Plus, there is an additional 643 at the shelter, and they say the pandemic is to blame.
"Maybe they had already been volatile and abusive but they had options before. Now they are limited options shortages in housing difficulty finding jobs. Lot of mental health and emotional challenges people are struggling with," said Whitehurst.
Bottom line just because these numbers are high they don’t want to discourage anyone from reaching out for help.
- Email: info@hawc.org
- 24/7 Hotlines:
Domestic Violence Hotline: 713-528-2121
Sexual Assault Hotline: 713-528-7273
Houston Area Women's Center
1010 Waugh Drive, Houston TX
