The Sun-Herald reported the gruesome details on the murder of Amanda Salas by her ex-boyfriend. It starts out with the worst part of the whole story:
Amanda Salas had been trying to get her ex-boyfriend to leave her and her current boyfriend, Christopher Dale Prevost, alone, though police say she refused to sign criminal charges against the man she feared.
On Friday, she thought she had gotten the protection she needed to stop Patrick Norman, 42, and a native of Hoover, Ala., from stalking and harassing her, slashing the tires on her and her boyfriend's vehicles and doing other things like destroying a mailbox outside the home she lived at in the 200 block of Hunter Drive in Woodhaven subdivision, an area neighbors describe as mostly quiet, with no real problems to report.
Salas went to Jackson County Justice Court on Friday and explained her case against Norman. Justice Court Judge Gerald Jones felt the information was compelling and issued an emergency protection order, usually filed in domestic violence cases, to notify Norman he was to immediately stop harassing Salas and to stay away from her.
I hate writing this but this is why these restraining orders are not worth the paper on which they are printed. There is only one thing these nuts understand: jail or getting shot. Period. Keep reading:
Jackson County Sheriff's deputies received the protection order at 2:05 p.m. Friday, but process servers were unable to find Norman after several attempts that day, according to a release from Jackson County Interim Sheriff Charles Britt.
Norman was never served.
Salas' efforts to stop Norman from constantly harassing and stalking her were in vain. Sunday morning, the harassment came to a violent and tragic end, when Ocean Springs police say Norman shot and killed Salas, 36, and shot and injured Prevost, 30.
Police Capt. William Jackson said the two were sitting in a vehicle under the carport when Norman pulled up in vehicle behind them, approached their car and shot them both with a 9mm handgun while they were still in the vehicle. Her children were inside the home at the time.
Norman, police said, then turned the gun on himself, resulting in his death. Salas was initially listed in critical condition on Sunday, but she later died of her injury. Jackson County Coroner Vicki Broadus said autopsies performed on Norman and Salas showed that both died of gunshot wounds to the head. Rest of the article
This is the part that makes you sick:
Jackson and D'Iberville police said they didn't make an arrest in the cases because Salas did not wish to sign charges against Norman.
"Last week, when he (Norman) started to do malicious mischief against her property, she should have signed charges," Jackson said. "That way, he would have been arrested."
Norman, Jackson said, had been arrested in the past in Ocean Springs on a stalking charge, also involving allegations of Norman stalking Salas. In addition, Norman had been arrested previously in Alabama on allegations of harassment and stalking.
"We did everything on our end that we could have but a lot of times, it is up to the person being victimized," Jackson said. "They have to take that extra step forward and sign charges so we can make the arrest."
No question about it. Fear and intimidation are the tools of these psychos. The victims are too scared to file charges. They think it will get worse. However, we are reading too many of these stories where the victim refuses to do anything and pays for her clemency with her life. This has simply got to stop. What are the answers?
8 comments:
This makes me so angry.
Why does the victim have to sign a complaint?
Why should any victim of a crime have to sign a complaint especially when it's known that signing a complaint can put the victim at greater risk?
The police have evidence of vandalism targeted against one person. That stalkers, particularly those who violently destroy property in the process, are dangerous, isn't in question.
Let's not pretend that the police and prosecutor's couldn't have made a case without the victim's cooperation. The victim usually has friends and family who can testify and the victim can be subpoenaed. Surveillance of the victim or their property could have made the case.
And, when the victim gets some courage, the minute a protection order is issued by a judge , why isn't this a green light to police that protection should be started!
A few surveillance cameras would be good.
One would think that because domestic violence cases are dangerous for police officers, that would be incentive enough for law enforcement to do whatever is necessary to change the procedure.
The dude killed himself. Does anyone really think increasing penalties is more than a " feel good" measure? He gave himself the death penalty!
It's past time focus shifted to protecting the target!
pretty sad that the jackson county sheriff's department blames the victim (who cannot defend herself against their accusations).
I read about this yesterday. I am stunned no one stepped in to help this woman. When he trespassed and slashed tires, he should have been arrested under malicious mischief and stalking. Too bad the woman or her boyfriend didn't have a gun with them at the time.
The kids will definitely suffer a lifetime from this.
I have heard so many woman give excuses as to why they wouldn't file charges against a male for stalking, abuse or harassment. I make the point to them that for every woman who fails to file a report and the male harms someone else in the future the females that failed to take action in the past are partly responsible for the harm that male causes in the future
A little background information, please.
Where was Amanda Salas from? Was Salas her maiden name?
What happened to her eyebrows? Did Patrick do that to her? And what happened to Patrick's eyebrows?
Personally, I think that the laws are fine. Restraining orders seldom stop Patricks, Rickies, and even Chads, when they're so far off the deep end the deep end their self-hate has led them to pluck their eyebrows, and the booze/meth/pot/antidepressants have pretty-much nullified their brains.
Some states there are mandatory arrests for domestic abuse and stalking such as this. Removes all discretion from both the victim ad the LE responding.
I can't tell if @1:28 is being serious.
Whatever happened to this case?
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