Seeking Solution to Violence

William Kellibrew's memory is seared with the carnage of domestic abuse: bullets being loaded into a handgun, piercing screams, four point-blank blasts at his mother and older brother, his own voice pleading not to be killed.

Kellibrew was 10 at the time, and for years family members did not want to discuss the 1984 killings by his mother's former boyfriend. He had to deal with it on his own.

His memories flooded back last week when Tiffany Gates was stabbed to death and a former boyfriend, covered in blood, was arrested at the scene in Southeast Washington and charged with murder. Kellibrew and Gates, 33, had known each other since elementary school and were so close that they considered themselves brother and sister.

Before Gates died, she dialed feverishly for help, reaching friends, the 911 communications center and a U.S. marshal who was nearby when she said, "He is here and kicking my door in."

Friends will gather to bury Gates today. And Kellibrew plans to turn his tears and anger into action. He has organized conference calls with family members and contacted anti-violence groups proposing an abuse registry similar to those for sex offenders. Feedback so far has been positive, he said.

"It's a community tragedy," said Kellibrew, 34, a student at the University of the District of Columbia. "I'm past grieving or mourning. When my mother died when I was 10, I remember being helpless. I did not have the strength to talk. I could not speak. I said after this, 'We've got do something different.' "

An average of three women are killed each day in the United States by a husband or boyfriend, and estimates of physical abuse run as high as 3 million cases each year.

Locally, the numbers are staggering. According to the latest report of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 12,800 cases of domestic violence were reported to D.C. police in the first six months of 2007. In Maryland, almost 22,000 cases were reported in 2006. In Virginia, 51,600 people contacted domestic violence programs that year.

The cases stem from stormy relationships, with breakups and reconciliation attempts that frustrate families, prosecutors and police officers who are called in to mediate.

In the past year, women in the region have been set afire by former boyfriends, and their children have been killed by ex-husbands. A week ago, a St. Mary County's man was arrested after he allegedly broke in to his ex-girlfriend's house and killed her new boyfriend with a shovel. The three children she had with the suspect were in the house, and the woman had notified authorities of her fear that he would kill her.

"This is a public health crisis," said Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund. "There are going to be more Tiffanys if we don't take this as the public health crisis it is. We need to focus on preventing these situations."

Her organization was among those that advocated for the federal Violence Against Women Act. The law, initially passed in 1994, increased pretrial detentions for the accused, imposed restitution on those convicted and banned gun purchases for those with protective orders or domestic violence convictions.