smiling again
lissette, janet & katherine’s stories
“ may the moon softly restore you by night…” —apache blessing
cold fists a new beginning for lissette ochoa
Lissette and her son, Matthew two years after the night of the wedding incident.
on july 29, 2006, Rafael Dangond & Lissette Ochoa attended a wedding at an exclusive Country Club in a city of Colombia‌
lissette and her husband seemed to be a happy couple, but when no one was around, rafael became a different kind of man‌ Dangond became violent after his wife Lissette was invited to dance by a group of friends who had traveled from Venezuela to attend the wedding, among them a young male who danced with her. While Ochoa was dancing, Some guests
recounted seeing Dangond sitting alone at the table. He later walked towards the bathroom and then came out with reddened eyes, presumably because of alcohol, However, this was not the case. The man was angry & jealous.
Once she returned to her seat, Dangond ordered his wife to exit the event and, once outside, Dangond began battering her and pushed her into their car. When they arrived home Ochoa desperately locked herself in a bathroom and used a cellphone to call her father, who told her he was on his way to her apartment. Her husband was armed and yelling threats about killing himself, Lissette, and her dad.
When her father arrived at their building she had managed to exit the apt. Her eyes were purple and swollen, her upper lip was basically touching her nose, and she had come out crawling. Her father immediately tried to report the incident to the police, but was told to return later in the morning when the person in charge of those cases got there. Negligence would later be publicly criticized.
On 4 August 2006, Dangond turned himself in to authorities after a brief absentia and was jailed in El Bosque Prison for three months. He was accused of multiple charges, including assault and battery, homicide intent, and carrying an illegal weapon.
he was sentenced to five years in jail for attempted murder and for assaulting his wife.
“ …may the rain wash away all of your worries…” —apache blessing
sides janet thought peter was a nice guy until she moved in.
“ the first few weeks that i was with peter were wonderful. he was affectionate, considerate, fun to be with and a great boost to my self-esteem. as soon as i moved in with him the violence began.”
He became very jealous and possessive. He kept accusing me of having an affair but I just thought he was feeling insecure. I felt sorry for him. I believed I could change him. Then he turned against my family and friends and tried not to let me see them. I broke up with him more than once but I always took him back. I thought his attacks must somehow be my fault. I found myself asking ‘What have I done to deserve this? Why am I making him so mad that he has to treat me this way?’ I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone what was happening. I was embarrassed.
Peter was cunning. No matter how hard he hit me, he was always careful never to mark my face. My family realized what was happening and wanted me to call the police but I couldn’t press charges. I was terrified. Then one day, Peter stabbed me in the face with a fork. I started screaming and tried to back away but he just kept stabbing me with it. I tried to run away but he followed me and picked up a glass and chucked it at me. I was bleeding and in agony with a shard of glass stuck in my side but Peter just picked up his keys and walked out.
I called an ambulance that took me to the hospital where they stitched me up. This time I did find the strength to go to the police and they put me in touch with Refuge, a safe house for women and children. There was no other choice. If I had gone back to Peter, I might not be here today. I finally saw him for what he was—a menace who used violence to control me.
“ slowly i am starting to rebuild my life and my confidence.�
I have moved into my new flat — a place I hope Peter will never find. I am cautious of everyone, and it will be hard for me to trust someone enough to form another relationship. Nothing will change what happened to me but I know that with time I can learn to live again. My life is getting better every day.
“ …may the breeze blow new strength into your being…” —apache blessing
half cheese,
half justice faux call to 911 saves katherine from another drunken domestic violence dispute.
A woman who is a victim of domestic violence called 911 for help but was unable to directly discuss of what was happening to her so she used a code-like conversation by starting to order a pizza. Fortunately, the dispatcher did not take her call lightly, instead he became intuitive and analyzed her situation very carefully. Read the transcript of the conversation between the victim and the dispatcher and noticed how well their thoughts were connected to each other.
911 call: “911, where is your emergency?” “123 Main St.” “Ok, what’s going on there?” “I’d like to order a pizza for delivery.” “Ma’am, you’ve reached 911” “Yeah, I know. Can I have a large with half pepperoni, half mushroom and peppers?” “Ummm…. I’m sorry, you know you’ve called 911 right?” “Yeah, do you know how long it will be?” “Ok, Ma’am, is everything ok over there? do you have an emergency?” “Yes, I do.” “..And you can’t talk about it because there’s someone in the room with you?” (moment of realization) “Yes, that’s correct. Do you know how long it will be?” “I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?” “Nope.” “Can you stay on the phone with me?” “Nope. See you soon, thanks”
her partner was arrested for the abuse According to the dispatcher, he checked the history of the address given by the lady and found out that there were records of multiple domestic violence from the previous calls. Finally, the officer arrived at the house and immediately saw the lady in bad shape with her drunk boyfriend. The dispatcher said that she was intelligent to pull that kind of trick and that emergency call is the most memorable one for him.
“ …may you walk gently through the world, and know it’s beauty, all the days of your life” —apache blessing