Review team releases domestic violence report for Wood County
10/25/2012BOWLING GREEN – With two more instances of domestic violence fatalities this year in Wood County, a team formed to look at such homicides between 1991 and 2011 said today that it will continue its work.
The Wood County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team released its “final” report and recommendations during a news conference in the atrium of the Wood County Courthouse, but County Prosecutor Paul Dobson said it’s clear the need for such vigilance continues.
“As to whether we need to have a discussion on domestic violence and its potentially fatal results, we need to look no farther back than last week and no farther away than Lake Township,” he said referring to the Oct. 16 shooting deaths of Amber Jones, 26, and her 3-year-old son, Jorge Duran III.
It is believed they were shot by Jorge Duran, Jr., 24, the boy’s father, who was allegedly shot and killed by Lake Township police at the scene.
Kathy Mull, coordinator of the review team, said team members have agreed to continue reviewing such deaths, while the Wood County Family Justice Committee – a consortium of law enforcement, judicial, and social service agencies – will be responsible for implementing the changes recommended in the team’s report.
Those changes include standardizing practices at the various courts and law enforcement agencies that handle domestic violence cases, holding batterers accountable, and making sure the agencies that work with victims collaborate more effectively.