After years of making the fight against domestic violence a top priority in Dallas, city leaders Tuesday heard about progress.
There are new laws and a slight reduction in cases however, a murder in a downtown high-rise two weeks ago demonstrates the ongoing challenge.
Once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, the building at 1401 Elm Street is now called The National for its heritage as the former First National Bank Building. The recently renovated building has glamourous restaurants, a fancy hotel and upscale apartments.
On Sept. 25, 46-year-old Jenean Chapman was found murdered in her apartment there. Two of her four sisters spoke with NBC 5 on Sept. 27 after receiving the news.
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“She was an amazing person and that’s why we’re so blindsided about how this happened,” sister Nicole Marshall said.
The sisters said Chapman moved to Dallas five months earlier and married a long-time acquaintance two months ago without telling her siblings in advance.
“It was an on-and-off relationship. It was rocky. We were aware of that,” Marshall said.
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For killing his wife, 48-year-old James Michael Patrick was arrested days later in Austin.
His arrest affidavit said there was a history of family violence between the couple that was documented on several Dallas Police reports.
Home visits with couples by police in partnership with the Family Place domestic violence shelter are one of the new Dallas prevention programs. Dallas Police Tuesday said whether there was a home visit in this case prior to the murder is part of the ongoing police investigation.
Daniela Marez with the Family Place conducts some of those home visits with victims.
“The goal is early intervention, to avoid tragedies, homicides, re-assault. That’s ultimately the goal, to prevent homicides from occurring,” Marez said. “We’re not pushing them in any direction. We have a lot of victims that don’t want to necessarily press charges or aren’t ready to press charges, and that’s OK. We provide them with safety planning, crisis intervention and therapy.”
Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia received an award Tuesday from the Family Place for his support.
At Dallas City Hall Tuesday advocates against domestic violence joined with police to review the programs and new laws. There are tougher penalties for offenders and a new offender registry will be online in January.
“It’s an awareness. It will be a database that people can search if they’re in a relationship. Ironically it’s really the dating services that were pushing this,” said Former Dallas City Councilmember Jennifer Gates, who has served as a leader of the Dallas Domestic Violence Advisory Council.
The report Tuesday said cases declined 5% last year, but Gates said there are still too many.
“You can’t blame the victims. There’s a lot of circumstances. It’s not a question of why people stay. It’s why people are abusers. But that’s why it’s important that they feel if there’s violence, that they can come forward and call for help,” Gates said.
She said assessments are conducted with police as service providers after cases are closed to improve response in the future.
Her sisters said Jenean Chapman deserves justice.
She was once a personal assistant to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Marshall said Chapman worked in TV and film production in New York and California before coming to Dallas where she held a digital marketing position.
