Domestic Violence cases have increased during the Covid-19 pandemic by 7.5% Nationwide
I will be writing about an extremely severe case in Woodstock, Ga. I will not reveal the name of the victim, I will acknowledge her with the name Sandy.
With a lot of neighbors, and most outside watching Joseph Newton, 31, beat his girlfriend severely, you would assume at least one of them would call for help or intervene in some way. December 22, 2020 that all proved to be wrong. They pulled up chairs and watched like it was a movie live. I feel so awful for this young lady.
It actually all started the night before when Sandy wanted to leave. Mr. Newton tried stopping her by taking her car keys and phone and she had no money because he always controlled what money she did get. And I know while reading this you might think why didn't she leave him prior to this evening? Well being a victim of domestic violence, I will be the first to tell you, It's not all that easy as it seems. Yes I know it seems easy, but it's extremely hard to get that much courage. When she attempted to leave on foot, Mr. Newton caught up to her yanking her up by hair, then ripping off her clothes, he then dragged her across a yard and driveway by her hair, again as people watched and they never tried to help her.
I attempted to speak with an ex-girlfriend of Mr. Newton, but she didn't want to comment. I did get a tip from someone who wishes to remain anonymous that he did beat other girls, but not this extreme.
After the fight outside, they went in and when Newton fell asleep, Sandy snuck out a window with the phone and keys in tow. She locked herself in her car and called 911. When officers arrived they were not expecting to see what they did. Sandy had been strangled you could tell by the way her eyes looked and she had a droopy face and her neck hurt she had a hard time swallowing, blurred vision and light headed.
Mr. Newton went to jail and made a bond, and he was told no contact with Sandy. Neither of them followed through and they were back together within a week or two and shortly after that they became pregnant. Now that was the first time police made contact with these two and became aware of their situation.
Not even a year later on October 10, 2021, authorities were called to their apartment when Mr. Newton was having a bad day and decided Sandy wasn't leaving. He held her against her will in the apartment, and again strangled her and beat her for hours. He even expressed his desire to kill her and their unborn child. He took sugar, salt, and coffee grounds and poured them into her open wounds to make the pain worse. She told authorities he stepped on her abdomen, kicked it with hopes of making her miscarry. At the hospital she needed extensive care, she had suffered a subchorionic hemorrhage of the placenta, but her baby she was told would be fine. Of course Mr. Newton was back in jail and now without a bond and waiting trial for some very terrible offenses.
Contrary to popular myth, abusers do not suffer from anger management problems. They manage their anger just fine - whenever there are witnesses
With Mr. Newton in jail without a bond, The D.A. had a lot of time to build their case. He had some pretty extensive charges. With all of them adding up, he may as well been charged with murder.
"Although domestic violence is most pervasive out of sight, in many cases, family, friends, and even complete strangers witness violence but choose to remain silent," said Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ashe of the Domestic Violence Unit. "They may feel it isn't their place to intervene, or they may want to protect the privacy of the victim. The victim may even ask them to remain silent. As a community, we all need to take a hard look at cases like this and understand that violence is never acceptable and that sometimes we need to step upto protect a victim, even when the victim is not ready or is unwilling to seek aid."
In March 2022 the trial began. The state presented more than 200 exhibits and called 13 witnesses to the stand, including law enforcement officers, domestic violence experts, medical professionals who cared for Sandy, and a friend and neighbor who had witnessed some violence. Photos of Sandy's injuries and jail calls where Newton had asked her to lie about what happened were also part of the trial evidence. Over the course of their relationship, Sandy suffered tremendously. She blamed herself for all the abuse and she never called for help except that one other time in December 2020. Thank God she finally gained courage to call for help and that probably was to protect her baby. After a two day trial Mr. Newton was found guilty of 15 charges and was sentenced to life plus 10 years. His conviction included
Kidnapping with bodily injury
- Criminal attempt to commit murder
- Criminal attempt to commit feticide
- Family violence aggravated assault
- Family violence aggravated battery
- 4 counts family violence battery
- Family violence simple battery
- False imprisonment
- 2 counts criminal trespass
- Sexual battery
- Tampering with evidence
If you or anyone you know is suffering from domestic violence or any violence please reach out to authorities because your abuser will never stop and the violence will only get worse
Classy Jules
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