Victims of domestic violence can find help
Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
By John Harbin
Times-News Staff Writer
Domestic violence comes in many forms, be it a black eye, name calling, forced sexual acts or finance control.During the holiday season, families face a multitude of stresses that can spark a domestic violence incident, according to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Domestic Violence Unit.In recent news a Henderson County couple’s domestic violence incidents reached a bitter end with a murder-suicide on Sunday, Dec. 17, that claimed the lives of Nicole Marie Moore, 24 and Gilbert "Gil" Charles Whitmire, 51. In Transylvania County, 3-month-old Aundrea Curry died earlier this month as a result of injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.In 2004, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department recognized that domestic violence is a growing problem and decided to address the issue by forming a unit concentrating only on domestic violence crimes.Senior member of the Domestic Violence Unit, Investigator Amber Burgess, said the unit does many things from following up on every report the department receives to taking pictures, serving warrants, giving speeches in the community and working with the nonprofit domestic violence organization Mainstay and the District Attorney’s Office.Burgess said the focus of the unit for victims is to maintain their personal safety, make a plan to decide where victims can go and refer all victims to Mainstay."We tell the victims of domestic violence to dial 911 and put the phone down," Burgess said. (more…)
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