SUITLAND, Md. — Police say a case of domestic violence in Prince George’s County led to two deaths over the weekend, and police are continuing their work to curb such cases in the county.
On Sunday, 35-year-old Tonya Wilkerson-Sullivan was killed by her husband, 37-year-old Antoine Elvin Sullivan who then turned the gun on himself at their Upper Marlboro home.
Prince George’s County has more domestic violence than any other county in Maryland.
“Unfortunately our numbers in the county are very high when it comes to domestic violence … we lead the state in the reported cases of domestic violence and it’s a tragedy,” says Mel Franklin, chairman of the Prince George’s County Council.
There is just one shelter in Prince George’s County — a county where police received more than 10,000 calls last year for domestic violence.
“Only one in Prince George’s County, which is a very unique position, but very challenging as well,” says Sophie Ford, executive director of the 57-bed Family Crisis Center.
“It’s the biggest gap that the county has … we need far more than one shelter,” says Franklin, who is working with the nonprofit group, Still I Rise to open a second shelter, expected in December.
To raise awareness, the council convened a town-hall style meeting Wednesday, Oct. 21 at Suitland High School, which drew together citizens, elected leaders, law enforcement, care providers, legal advocates and experts on domestic violence.
No one is immune to the problem, says Louise Young, an executive assistant at Still I Rise said at the meeting.
“Faith leaders are perpetrators, also,” Louise Young, an executive assistant at Still I Rise said at the meeting. “I was married to a preacher of a major church … the abuse was verbal, emotional and physical.”
A major hurdle to curbing the problem is that the vast majority of victims who call police for domestic violence promptly drop their complaints.
In 2014, police in Prince George’s County received 10,277 such calls; 8,356 decided not to file a police report, according to Prince George’s County Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit.
“It’s still an issue shrouded in a lot of silence … we’re still seeing a lot of fear surrounding the issue and that’s driving a lot of folks to not getting the help they need,” Franklin says.
Those who deal each day with victims of domestic violence say they believe that a communitywide effort is needed to counter the problem. They say there are roles for law enforcement, businesses, employers, teachers and clergy.
“If you are an employer in a position to hire a survivor so they can become financially sound, make that option available,” Ford says.
She says managers can give time off to employee/victims to go to court to secure a protective or peace order. Teachers, she says, can be access points to get people the help they need and churches can do more to bring the problem out of the shadows.
“Don’t judge and don’t think that it’s not happening everywhere,” Young says.
