County domestic violence team looking at ways to improve services to survivors

July 23--Daviess County's team that looks for ways to better manage cases of domestic violence and provide services to survivors recently discussed how the community might better help people caught in domestic violence.

In particular, the team discussed updating domestic violence risk assessments to more accurately gauge whether an abuser is showing signs of killing the person they are abusing and of creating a law enforcement domestic violence unit.

While the Domestic Violence Multidisciplinary Team is a standing committee that meets regularly, the discussion was prompted by the July 3 death of Erica Owen, who was allegedly killed by Matthew A. Adams, 26, a Utica man who was Owen's ex-boyfriend. Owen was killed at her home on Placid Place. The county coroner's office ruled the death was caused by asphyxiation from being strangled.

Adams was charged with murder, first-degree burglary, theft of an automobile, tampering with evidence and violation of an emergency protective order. The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office has filed notice to seek the death penalty against Adams.

The team is chaired by County Attorney Claud Porter, and includes law enforcement officers, crime victim's advocates, and officials from Daviess County Public Schools, among others.

"What we are doing is trying to look at our procedures to see if there are other things we can do" to help domestic violence survivors, Porter said.

Owen had a domestic violence order against Adams, and Adams also had a pending arrest warrant against him for violating his probation. Adams violated his probation when he vandalized Owen's home twice in early June.

Owen had been active in trying to protect herself from Adams, said Kyle Smith of the county Crime Victim Assistance office.

"She came back a week before she died and said, 'Is there anything more I can do?' and I had to tell her, 'No,' " Smith said.

Porter said Owen "had been trying to get away from (Adams) for a long time."

Both the Evansville Police Department and Louisville Metro Police Department have domestic violence units. The Louisville unit investigates domestic violence cases after an incident. The unit can help the survivor by directing them to services such as shelters and support organizations.

Detective Brad Youngman, with the Daviess County Sheriff's Department, said if such a unit had existed, Owen still might have been killed. But having a domestic violence unit could potentially prevent a similar incident in the future, he said.

The county does not currently have electronic monitoring for people under domestic violence orders, although that service has been available in the past. Porter said previously the county is working with a new company to provide the service, which would notify a survivor is an abuser is nearby.

The company, Involvement Inc., of Henderson, should have the monitoring system running by Labor Day, Smith told the team members.

Other ideas that were discussed included ordering a person charged with domestic violence into counseling at the time they are arrested. But barriers to treatment include a lack of programs for people charged with domestic violence in Owensboro, and the inability of some offenders to pay for treatment, team members said.

Porter said local law enforcement does have an assessment to gauge the risk a person will be further assaulted by an abuser. Porter said the goal is to create a more in-depth assessment that is concise enough that officers and deputies can fill it out when they are completing other forms about a domestic violence incident.

Porter said team members also plan to meet with law enforcement officials about the possibility of creating domestic violence units, or a combined unit involving the various departments.

Team member Kathy Thomas-Pickrell said a barrier to survivors reporting domestic violence is that survivors are afraid of the system.

"I've heard (survivors) says, 'Don't go file an EPO (emergency protective order), because you're going to be sent for a mental health assessment, a substance abuse assessment, and you're going to have a DCBS (Department for Community Based Services) case opened on you," Pickrell said. "There are not wraparound services for our survivors.

"Offenders are not being held accountable," Pickrell said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse

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