This story is horrific, heart-wrenching, and and sadly all too common in America. Angie Harville of Monterey, Tennessee, called 911 fearing her husband Danny Harville would kill her. The first of
several 911 calls was received October 25 at
3:09 a.m.. Angie Harville told 911:
“My husband, soon to be ex-husband, he’s beating on the door, beating holes in the walls. I need an officer over here to make him leave please,” Angie Harville told dispatchers.
“Is he still out there now?” dispatchers replied.
“Yes, he is trying to beat the door in real quick. He tried to commit suicide a couple weeks ago. He was in a mental institute.”
The perpetrator, Danny Harville, slashed Angie Harville's tires and cut her brake lines so she could not leave. The police came, looked around, but opted not to take out a warrant. They later found Danny Harville at a convenience story, retrieved Angie Harville's cellphone, but made no arrest.
At 6:44 a.m., Angie Harville called 911 again.
“Earlier tonight, when you spoke to an officer, did you make a domestic violence report?” dispatch asked.
“They wouldn’t let me. They wouldn’t let me. They didn’t take out any charges. He’s going to get away again,” Angie Harville was heard saying on the recording.
“What did they tell you?”
“They told me he lives here and there are holes in all of my walls and he is going to kill me!”
Police officers claim they repeatedly beckoned Angie Harville to leave the house with her children and go to a shelter, but out of other fears, she refused. Kathy Walsh of the
Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic Violence said the officers ignored the law.
“Our assault law clearly said someone can place you in fear,” said Walsh. “So someone threatens they will kill you, someone breaks your door down, cuts the brakes on your car and so placing someone in fear is an assault and that’s enough for police to make an arrest.”
The next 911 call was from the 17-year-old, Brandon, who was locked in a room with his 6-year-old brother. Brandon told the 911 dispatcher he had
"just heard a gunshot upstairs." By then it was too late. His parents were dead, leaving him and his brother to not only live with the incredibly traumatic memory, but also to live their lives without their mother and father.
This case is far from being rare. Several women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends EVERY DAY. If a gun is present, the chance of murder is much higher. One of the most renowned feminists, Gloria Steinem, made this statement to the Associated Press. Politifact deemed these statistics to be accurate.
"When we think of violence against women, for instance, we understandably think mainly of other countries, where the degree of violence is much higher," Steinem is quoted as saying in an Oct. 1, 2014, Associated Press story. "But what is also true is that if you added up all the women who have been murdered by their husbands or boyfriends since 9/11, and then you add up all the Americans who were killed by 9/11 or in Afghanistan and Iraq, more women were killed by their husbands or boyfriends."
If you are in an abusive relationship, male or female, or know someone who may be, there is help. Visit
National Domestic Violence Hotline or call
800-799-SAFE.
In 70 to 80 percent of intimate partner homicides, no matter which partner was killed, the man physically abused the woman before the murder. Thus, one of the primary ways to decrease intimate partner homicide is to identify and intervene promptly with abused women at risk.
Read more about domestic violence statistics and a new tool created to help with prevention by visiting: National Institute of Justice.
Even given this story, if you find yourself in imminent danger, do call 911 immediately. Not all cases have to end this tragically. But this country has a lot of work to do in order to protect victims of domestic violence. It starts with awareness.