Caitlyn’s Courage

 

Caitlyn’s Courage:

How the Family of Caitlyn, a Domestic Violence Victim, Protects Other Victims from their Abusers

 

This guest post is offered by Sarah Martin, Regent Law 3L, and current Family Law student:

In May of 2019, Caitlyn Whitehurst, a young woman who lived in Pitt County, North Carolina, was killed by her ex-boyfriend Christopher Garris. He laid in wait outside her family’s property, where he shot and killed her. Afterwards, Garris shot himself. In response to this senseless tragedy, Caitlyn’s sister Logan began a nonprofit organization called Caitlyn's Courage to raise awareness of domestic violence, open a 24-hour safe house, and protect victims of domestic violence from their abusers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence incidents increased due to orders forcing victims and abusers to spend more time together. “North Carolina ranks fourth in the United States for domestic violence crisis calls and the number of those calls has increased with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Representative Perrin Jones, MD, Representative Kandie Smith, Representative Chris Humphrey, and Senator Don Davis in a joint statement. In 2020, the North Carolina General Assembly approved funding for Caitlyn’s Courage to implement a GPS pilot program to track domestic violence abusers in North Carolina. More than 40 states, including North Carolina, allow for GPS tracking to protect victims of domestic violence. Tracking these abusers would prevent other families from experiencing the same loss that Caitlyn’s family had to endure.

N. C. House Bill 1023 was unanimously passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Cooper on July 1, 2020. It allocated $3.5 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to Caitlyn’s Courage to create a pilot program which would use GPS to track defendants of crimes related to domestic violence, beginning in nine judicial districts across the state. This program would ensure restraining orders are effective and protect victims when their abusers are released from jail and awaiting trial. According to Sheriff Paula S. Dance, “One of the most vulnerable times for domestic violence victims is the pretrial period after the accused has been released from jail and is awaiting trial. This program will reduce risk to the victim during the most vulnerable time.” It would protect victims by affixing defendants of domestic violence actions with a GPS tracking device as a pretrial release condition. Additionally, victims may also receive a tracking device that permits 24-hour monitoring of both parties. The device will notify victims if their abuser is within the restricted proximity ordered in the judicial decree. Notifying victims when their abuser is near will allow them to escape before potentially harmful or deadly interaction occurs. Without this tracking device, victims have little protection from harm during the pretrial period between when their abuser is released from jail and trial occurs.

Family restoration requires the protection of victims during this time so that senseless tragedies as a result of domestic violence no longer occur. That is precisely what Caitlyn’s Courage is doing in North Carolina – protecting families from harm.