Advocates highlight resources during Domestic Violence Awareness Month

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – Every October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month brings together advocates from across the country in their efforts to end domestic violence and highlights the resources available to victims.

Protecting your loved ones starts with recognizing changes in their behavior. Six years ago, Destinee Virgin was tragically shot and killed in traffic by her ex-boyfriend during an abusive relationship. Her mother says she will never forget it.

“He took away from me the world that I lived for, that I worked for. For a long time I felt so lost,” said Destinee’s mother, Mechelle Virgin.

Destinee Virgin was kidnapped and murdered in broad daylight by her ex-boyfriend at a busy intersection on Macon Road. Zenene Davis, executive director of the Domestic Violence Intervention Center, explains that domestic violence, or “DV,” as she calls it, typically escalates over time in a relationship.

“DV doesn’t start physically. “No one is just going to walk out the door and put their hands on you,” Davis said. “It starts with these little foxes liking the possessiveness, quick temper and verbal abuse, saying things that are demeaning.”

“At first everything was fine. He bought her teddy bears. They talked on the phone until dawn,” Virgin said. “Then it was, 'Hey, my mom says I have to hang up,' and he still insisted, 'Hold the phone, put it under the pillow, but I need to know you're still home.' ' That's when it became controlling.”

Davis says people need to be aware of this. Domestic violence impacts men and women and the families affected.

“This is something we have to keep in mind because it happens every day,” Davis added. “According to statistics, one in two women is currently affected by domestic violence and two out of five men have experienced some form of intimate partner violence in their lives.”

“Six years have passed since then, it took all of three years for me to regain at least part of myself. I will never be the same, grief is an eternal process,” Virgin said.

Markel Ervin, Destinee Virgin's killer, accepted a guilty plea and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

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