Friday, October 21, 2011

Article: Domestic Violence Cases Up 19 Percent in Forsyth Co.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP)— Forsyth County Sheriff Bill Schatzman said they have been handling many more domestic violence cases recently.

The number of aggravated assaults related to domestic violence jumped 19 percent from 2008 to 2010, Schatzman said. During that same time period, the number of children at home during a domestic violence incident jumped 73 percent, Schatzman said.

District Attorney Jim O'Neill said his office dealt with roughly 2,600 domestic cases in 2010.

"That's an enormous amount of cases for a population our size," O'Neill said.

O'Neill said there is a link between a down economy and more domestic violence.

"That's related to pressures and stresses in the household--perhaps people acting out in ways they wouldn't normally act out," O'Neill said.

The DA's office offers the "Safe on Seven" program, which allows victims to get help in the seventh floor of the courthouse.

"They meet with one of our counselors and fill out a 50B application. While they're up here, we can offer them all sorts of services from shelter to food," O'Neill said.

The victim of a murder-suicide on Monday, Ashley McGill, registered for help with the program, O'Neill said. She filled out paperwork to get a 50B protective order, but didn't show up for the court date scheduled 10 days later, O'Neill said. No restraining order was ever filed.

McGill and her estranged husband, professional boxer Frederick McClinton, were found dead on Monday at a home on Davis Road. Schatzman said McClinton asked McGill's friend and brother to leave the home before shooting McGill and himself with a 9mm handgun. The couple left behind a four-year-old child.

Besides Safe on Seven, the DA's office also is collecting cell phones to give to domestic violence victims for emergencies.

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