Paralyzed by Grief: After Pheonecia Ratliff’s Murder and Jamarquis Black’s Suicide

The night of May 14, 2020, in Canton, Jamarquis Black, 24, kidnapped his estranged girlfriend, Pheonecia Ratliff, 23. They had quarreled because he wanted custody of their baby daughter, Jordyn, barely 6 months old. Phoenicia had reported Jarmarquis’ stalking and threats to the police; he had been arrested, but bailed out of jail on May 11.

Perspective, Story Behind The StoryKatherine MitchellMarch 1, 2022abused women, battered women, crime victims, domestic violence, murder/suicide, Pheonecia Ratliff, Jamarquis Black, Jordyn, Suzanne Ratliff, custody, guardianship, Nesbit, Elizabeth Black Wooten, trauma

‘You Don’t Know How Long 11 Minutes Is’: What People Don’t Know About Domestic Violence

Angela Carpenter is a municipal court judge in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Twice a month on Tuesday afternoons, she presides over domestic violence court. She doesn’t want members of the public, who might be called to serve on juries or grand juries, to dismiss domestic violence cases with a shrug: Why didn’t she just leave??

Perspective, Story Behind The StoryKatherine MitchellNovember 9, 2021VAWA, Violence against women act, Women leaving, abused women, battered women, shelters, Judge Angela Carpenter, Domestic violence, Domestic violence awareness month, Beverly Prentiss Domestic Violence Victim Empowerment Program, Vicksburg

Stuck in the Senate with the Violence Against Women Act, a bill that would help domestic violence victims

“When I knew I had to leave,” Victoria told me, “I only had my two kids. No money. No place to go.” Victoria is not the real name of a woman in her early 30s, a native Mississippian who had left an abusive partner.