HOUSTON—For women in an abusive relationship, the most dangerous time for them is when they call it quits, the Houston Area Women’s Center said.
Just last year in Harris County, 37 women lost their lives to domestic violence. The Houston Area Women’s Center says seeking help is crucial.
In Harris County, police are called out to a domestic violence scene 40,000 times a year. And from there, they often call the district attorney’s office seeking charges.
KHOU 11 News spent four hours downtown at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office listening to call after call. More than 100 come in every day.
One victim, who police said was shot after she broke up with her boyfriend, agreed to talk with KHOU 11 News, as long as we didn’t use her name.
“There were a lot of times he was threatening to kill everyone in the house and when I stopped talking to him it seems like things got worse,” the victim said.
When the suspect was picked up by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force, he appeared to be high on something and couldn’t calm down.
“Man, ya’ll don’t even know who I am man,” Stacy Lawton screamed from the backseat of an HPD patrol car.
‘We got a phone call from HPD homicide. They were looking for this individual,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Cameron Welch.
Welch is a member of the Gulf Coast Violent Offender’s Task Force.
“He didn’t want the relationship to end,” said Welch.
Prosecutors charged Lawton with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“If I ever decide to get into another relationship and I see that again I know the first signs and I am out of there,” the victim said.
