Every day, North Augusta resident Tanya Sullivan wears a purple bracelet.
It was her sister, Alicia Arangilan's, favorite color long before it came to represent domestic violence awareness.
A year ago, Ms. Arangilan and her daughter, Jade, were killed by husband and stepfather Robert Herring in a double murder-suicide at their Edgefield, S.C., home.
Today, Ms. Sullivan will speak about her sister and niece on the lawn of the South Carolina State House in Columbia as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster will read the name of each victim in the state, ranked second nationally for domestic violence deaths, according to the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy center in Washington, D.C.. The report states that 68 South Carolina women were killed by a man in 2006, the latest year that data was available.
Georgia ranked 14th, with 75 deaths.
Nationally, the average victim is 38 years old. Ms. Arangilan was 34. Jade was 17.
On Oct. 30, 2007, Mr. Herring dropped his three youngest stepchildren off at school. Police say he returned home and shot his wife and oldest stepdaughter before killing himself.
Ms. Sullivan says she never saw her sister and brother-in-law fight, but more than once her sister couldn't explain her bruises.
"Her story kept changing; his story kept changing," Ms. Sullivan said. "If she had pressed charges, he would have gone away."
The two had been married less than a year.
"I think she thought she had the situation under control," Ms. Sullivan said. "She was an educated person, but domestic violence knows no boundaries."
Almost immediately after their deaths, Ms. Sullivan says she knew she'd become an advocate for domestic violence awareness.
"If I can prevent one death in the name of Alecia and Jade, they didn't die in vain," she said. "Their voices were silenced, but I can be that voice for them."
Reach Kelly Jasper at (706) 823-3552 or kelly.jasper@augustachronicle.com.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEATHS
Deaths per State 100,000
1. Nevada 3.27
2. South Carolina 2.84
3. Alabama 2.20
4. Oklahoma 2.10
5. Louisiana 1.97
6. Vermont 1.90
7. Texas 1.82
8. Arkansas 1.74
9. Arizona 1.72
10. Tennessee 1.70
14. Georgia 1.58
Source: Domestic Policy Center analysis of 2006 homicide data
IF YOU GO
WHAT: 2008 Silent Witness Ceremony
WHEN: 11 a.m. today
WHERE: The south steps of the State House, 1101 Gervais St. in Columbia
INFO: (803) 734-2430
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
BY RACE
Of 1,818 female homicide victims where race was identified:
White 1,208
Black 551
Asian/Pacific Islander 38
American Indian/ Alaskan Native 21
BY RELATIONSHIP
For homicides in which the victim-to-offender relationship was identified:
- 92 percent of female victims were killed by someone they knew.
- 60 percent were wives, common-law wives, ex-wives or girlfriends of the offenders.
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