NFL Player Homicide-Suicide: This Is Domestic Violence
A head injury? Alcohol? Drugs? Depression? An argument? Everyone who knew Jovan Belcher is grasping for an answer to “why?” We only know what we read in the paper, but there is nothing all that unusual here when a man kills his partner and himself. The story is pretty predictable. This is domestic violence.
A head injury? Alcohol? Drugs? Depression? An argument? Everyone who knew Jovan Belcher is grasping for an answer to “why?” We only know what we read in the paper, but there is nothing all that unusual here when a man kills his partner and himself. The story is pretty predictable. This is domestic violence.
Belcher is praised by teammates and coaches as a really good football player and hard worker. "He was a good, good person...a family man. A loving guy," said family friend Ruben Marshall, who said he coached Belcher in youth football. "You couldn't be around a better person."
This is domestic violence. This is the same story tragically played out over and over again: the public persona in contradiction to the private man who murdered his girlfriend and then killed himself.
People who were interviewed said they knew of no history or evidence of Belcher having problems. As an undergraduate, “His name appears on at least three police reports released by university officials. In April 2006, which was Belcher's freshman year, he was upset over a woman and punched a dormitory window, according to officials. In February 2007, officers responded to a noise complaint involving Belcher and a girlfriend and “a discussion outside his room.’”
Team officials reportedly knew the couple had a history of arguments about relationship and financial issues. The Chiefs had provided counseling and "were bending over backward" to help, Police Sgt. Richard Sharp said.
This is domestic violence. People knew. The team knew.
This is domestic violence. This wasn’t someone who flipped out and went berserk: he directed his violence at one person, his intimate partner. Although he took his gun with him to the stadium and talked with his coaches, he never threatened them or anyone else—only himself.
This is domestic violence. And whenever there is domestic violence, the chances of a deadly outcome are very high. This is a profound tragedy for the families with a young child left without parents. But it is not an unusual tragedy, unfortunately.
11,766 women were murdered by husbands or boyfriends since 9/11/2001, a total greater than all of those killed in 9/11 plus all of the subsequent U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is why we are participating in the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence. Because enough is enough.
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
FaithTrust Institute
P.S. It makes a difference. Contact your Representative: “Pass the Senate version of Reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act now.”
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This is Domestic Violence