It wasn’t the first time that domestic violence was happening to Jessica, of Richmond, Virginia, but after a relationship that spanned 13 abusive years, it would be the last.
She called police fearing for her and her 6-year-old son’s life after another night of abuse inside a National Harbor hotel room in Oxon Hill, Maryland. In a whisper, she urged police not to knock on the door.
After being locked in the hotel room, her phone taken away, she was attacked by her longtime partner, 43-year-old Bruce Godfrey of Richmond.
“The most sinister part of this case was that their child in common, their 6-year-old, was in the room witnessing his mother being strangled, abused and beat up by his father,” said Prince George’s County Assistant State’s Attorney Carolyn Mills.
That dynamic was the tipping point for Jessica, who saw justice this week. Godfrey was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to first degree assault charges.
“It wasn’t until my son was being more vocal about it, that I was now becoming aware that I was hurting my kid, that my kid was involved,” Jessica said. “I did not want to raise a child in domestic violence. I did not want my son to hurt anybody when he got older. I wanted my kid to be a happy, vibrant child, and I was ruining it for him by bringing him back into this situation.”
Godfrey’s strangulation of Jessica resulted in a Class 1 felony, punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison (he actually got 25 years, with all but 16 suspended). Up until a few years ago, he would have been looking at just three to eight years in prison.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said Jessica got out just in time.
“A victim of strangulation is seven to eight times more likely to end up being a victim of homicide,” Braveboy said.
“This is not my first rodeo with this man. This is not the first strangulation with him. And this is definitely not the first hits that I’ve taken to my body,” Jessica said, recounting that late December night last year. “I’ve used the makeup, I’ve done the lies and the sunglasses. I’ve done everything to cover up.”
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Braveboy highlighted this case in the hopes that other women who find themselves in the same situation will see there is a way out.
“We understand the cycle of victimhood,” Braveboy said. “We understand that victims, oftentimes it takes six, seven or eight times for them to decide to finally leave.”
Braveboy and Jessica both urged victims of domestic violence to go to a hospital right away so a forensic exam can be conducted, providing prosecutors with evidence that will help lock up an abuser.
“This is attempted murder. This is not just ‘Oh, he hit me.’ I literally lost consciousness. I was four seconds away from dying in front of my child that night,” Jessica said. “It’s a big deal.”
But without that exam, it would be another, as she described, “he said, she said” situation. Even with the evidence, prosecutors acknowledged it can be hard for a victim of domestic violence to see the case through. Earlier this month, a WTOP reporter saw a woman who police said was strangled to the point of losing consciousness plead with a judge to let her abuser out of jail.
“Oftentimes, our victims don’t want to cooperate because they love the person who abused them, or they may even still be afraid of them,” Braveboy said. “And so, it’s sometimes difficult to pursue those cases if we don’t have all of the forensic evidence we need.”
In Jessica’s case, Godfrey also began expressing remorse for his actions that night.
“We had some jail calls where he was contacting her from another inmate’s PIN number. He was expressing his remorse. ‘I’m so sorry. I love you. I want my family back.’ And then, you know, had she been in a weaker moment, that’s exactly when she would have reentered that cycle of violence,” Mills said.
“A lot of times, our victims will … start to feel bad and empathize more so with their abuser than themselves as being the abused, and I think that is the hardest, hardest part,” added Mills.
Jessica said that since Godfrey was put behind bars, she’s gotten sole custody of their child and she’s on track to graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University in the spring.
“My friends are coming back. I’ve reached out to a bunch of friends and they’re all talking with me again,” she said. “I feel like it’s a bright future. A weight has been lifted.”
She also starts a new job this weekend, after Godfrey not only wouldn’t let her work, Jessica said he wouldn’t even let her on social media.
“I want to take my story,” she said. “I’m no longer a victim: that’s done, that died yesterday. I’m Jessica. I have a family and I am a mom. And that’s who I am. I’m not a victim anymore. And I just want to help other people.”
She said that starts by becoming an advocate for other domestic violence victims. She said she also intends to push for the creation of a national domestic violence registry, similar to the sex offender registry.
“I want people that are convicted as felons of domestic violence to be registered,” Jessica said. “You can go and just type in somebody’s name and say ‘Is this a guy I want to date, is this a girl I want to date?’ It should be that easy.”
