Alicia’s Voice may be silenced
...but not forgotten.
Bowling Green, Ohio- Alicia's Voice, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Wood County victims of domestic violence get out of their abusive relationships, is closing its doors for good. Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune 2/07/2012
Alicia was my baby girl, and we all miss her so. A madman took her from us just a few weeks after her 30th birthday in March, 2007. He shot her and her boyfriend, John Mitchell, until his 9mm was empty. Alicia’s four children were asleep in their beds, tired from a day of backyard baseball on an unseasonably warm day in March.
The killer was identified in a desperate 911 call placed about 3 a.m. by Alicia’s 10-year-old daughter, Katie. She told the dispatcher her stepdad shot her mom and her boyfriend.
”I saw him. He said stay out of the room and he left,” she said as she pleaded for police to hurry. Toledo Blade
The coward ran from Alicia’s home, and was discovered several days later hiding in a hole in the ground at his mother’s house. We allowed him to plea bargain to a life sentence to avoid putting the kids through a trial. I like the fact that the killer will wake up every morning for many years knowing that he will never see freedom again.
Our family was devastated. In fact, the entire community was stunned. Over 400 people showed up for Alicia’s funeral, many standing outside the packed funeral home in a freezing rain.
The police were puzzled why the serial abuser was out of jail.
The deputy (Domestic Violence specialist, Mary Ann Robinson) knew about the three-year jail sentence Daniels was given for domestic violence crimes against Alicia in 2000. And she knew about an incident in December in which Daniels tied Alicia up, beat her, put a knife to her throat, and threatened to kill her. Toledo Blade
The killer was in jail with no money and a $30,000 cash only bond, so we felt fairly confident he would remain there until sent to prison again. Just to be sure, Alicia’s mom, Kathy Newlove, wrote the judge a letter. But…
“…an assistant Wood County prosecutor has taken some heat for failing to deliver to the judge a letter from Mrs. Newlove predicting that Daniels could kill her daughter and asking that he be kept in jail.
Judge Reeve Kelsey released a violent serial offender on an own recognizance (OR) bond. Weeks later, Alicia and Mitchell were dead.
Ten days later, Kathy Newlove founded Alicia’s Voice. And now, nearly 6 years later, the non-profit organization that has helped over 1,400 women is closing.
Looking back, it was a pretty good run.
Kathy and her staff of volunteers helped so many people.
For Chrissy Wilson, a Bowling Green mother who was helped by Alicia's Voice in 2010, the idea of its ceasing to exist is unbearable.
"I've been doing everything possible to help her not close the doors" but "barring a miracle" that is what is about to happen.
Wilson says she fled to the Cocoon Shelter in the summer of 2010 with her two daughters, now ages 14 and 16.
"When the girls and I came out of that we were hooked up with Kathy," Wilson said. "She helped me and my daughters a whole lot."
…
"A lot of us don't even make it out of the door with anything but the clothes on our back" when fleeing an abuser. "She buys them their medicine, provides them with money to pay their rent." In many cases "she buys them clothes, shoes."
Newlove confirmed Alicia's Voice has provided rent, deposits, car repairs, utility bills, phone bills, gas cards, alarms systems, tires, clothing, household supplies, day care, and Christmas gifts, depending on the woman's individual needs.
The list has even included further education. Presently, "we're putting six women through STNA (state-tested nursing assistant) schooling," said Newlove, with the goal of giving the women a way to support their families. Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune
This is a video of Alicia and our family if you would like faces to put with our story.