By james art BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A vigil was held on Thursday, October 24th for Myesha Davis, who was killed by her fiance three years ago. Her sister, Trinicia Ricks, has now dedicated her life to domestic violence advocacy and awareness.
“I’m doing this with a purpose — to bring awareness and let women know that you’re strong — you’re beautiful, you’re loved, someone will welcome you with open arms, and you don’t have to stick to that situation,” Ricks says.
Each year in Louisiana, 60 homicides are the result of domestic violence. That’s according to the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Rix says she wishes she knew then what she knows now. By sharing her sister’s story, she hopes to save others from the same fate.
“There were so many red flags that I completely looked around,” Ricks says. “When someone is literally trying to break you down, mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially – people don’t even realize that some people will wear you down or keep you from working, to keep you in a bad place, to keep you under control.”
Unfortunately, this is the case for many Louisianans. BRPD Corporal Sandra Watts says domestic violence is on the rise in Baton Rouge since the pandemic. Corporal Watts says officers are called to numerous domestic violence situations every day. She says they make an average of one arrest each day for those calls.
“The hardest part is knowing when you see these repeat offenders — they keep doing it and they keep doing it and they keep doing it — and then sometimes, unfortunately, it ends up killing someone,” Cpl. Watts says.
Ricks says you don’t know what you don’t know, which is why she’s become so passionate about spreading awareness and helping others in a similar situation.
“I wish I had been more careful with her and asked more questions and tried to figure out what we could do to get her out of this situation safely,” Ricks says.
If you are in a domestic abuse/violence situation, organizations like IRIS Center, butterfly societyon Louisiana Domestic Violence Coalitionand your local law enforcement agencies are equipped to help with things like protection, housing, counseling, and anything else you might need.
Click here to report a typographical error. Please include the title.
Click here to subscribe to our daily WAFB 9 news roundup and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2024 WAFB. All rights reserved.