New law will form Mississippi Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - “People don’t understand domestic violence victims.”

That statement is one that many leaders in Mississippi have all come to agree on and are working to address.

On July 1, the state will officially have a domestic violence fatality review board.

For Wayne County’s Tara Gandy, the board’s creation is a step in the right direction.

But only a step.

It’s been nearly three years since Gandy lost her 24-year-old daughter to a man who violated a protective order to kill her.

Gandy said her daughter, Joslin Napier, loved makeup, nails, hair and everyone around her.

“Joslin was a beautiful little butterfly,” Gandy said. “She was amazing, just amazing.”

On Oct. 4, 2022, Napier was killed in her home in Waynesboro by Fabian Jones.

Napier had filed domestic violence charges and a protective order against Jones prior to her death.

Jones was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole this past May.

“The sadness and pain is still there,” Gandy said, “I tell myself that the battle is won, but the war is far from over.

“As for my daughter, Joslin, I didn’t look at justice being served because the justice system failed my daughter in so many ways. I was looking for accountability.”

Senate Bill 2886 will create the Mississippi Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.

Lawmakers said that although nothing can bring back those who lost their lives to domestic violence, the board and new law will establish more accountability in the legal system.

“They will provide recommendations to us in the Legislature, to other entities and work on those areas to strengthen our domestic violence laws, but also create resources for domestic violence victims,” said Sen. Brice Wiggins (District 52-R), the author of the SB2886.

The bill specifically reads that the new board will not interfere in domestic violence investigations. But it will exist within the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to collect data and inform future policy.

“I think there’s been studies that show your brain changes in situations like that,” Wiggins said. “And, so my point is, and by the way, I saw that with domestic violence victims as a prosecutor. They didn’t want to come testify, but you can’t put a person in jail without, generally speaking, the victim testifying.

“So, my experience has been that anything that we can do on the legislative level to bring one, awareness, and two, to get to the bottom of it, is something that we need to be doing.”

Napier’s case was prosecuted in the 10th Circuit Court District.

10th Circuit Court District Attorney Kassie Coleman said two-thirds of the homicide cases her office has seen in the last five years have been domestics.

In many cases, the victims did everything right.

“Joslin’s case is a good example,” Coleman said. “By the time we got the first file, she’s already been murdered, but when you go back and see all of those charges, and sort of that progression, it’s real scary, because if we can’t protect these people, if we can’t find a way to make services available, then who?

“You know, if not us, then who?”

The steps taken leading up to Napier’s death are ones her mother said many people wouldn’t understand.

“For them, it’s easier to stay than leaving,” Gandy said. “It’s a process in leaving. It’s a process, and I learned that.”

Coleman said, as an attorney, she hopes the domestic violence review board can amend that process for everyone’s safety, including recognizing that a protective order may not stop an abuser from escalating the situation.

“Pretty often we can identify a gap or a place where things are falling through the cracks, whether that be how we follow up on the protective order,” she said. “If somebody’s out on bond and then they commit a new felony, that bond should be revoked.

“So, I think there’s a lot of different things that we can do.”

A domestic violence review board and efforts to fill those gaps could be the difference between life and death

“I’m so proud that Joslin will be a part of that,” Gandy said. “She will be a part of that. She won’t just be a number like countless others. She will be a number with a purpose.”

Wiggins said that the next step in addressing the gaps in domestic violence legislation is training and educating the Mississippi court system on the mental and emotional obstacles domestic violence victims face.

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