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Nov 22, 2008 11:27 pm US/Eastern
Woman Stabbed Outside Courthouse Asked For Help
Reporting
Adam May
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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A woman dies just a few days after police say she was stabbed by her husband outside the Eastside District Courthouse.
CBS
Days after police say Veronica Williams was stabbed by her husband outside Baltimore's Eastside District Court, the mother of three young children died Thursday night.
"Mrs. Williams was brutally assaulted. Her neck and face were torn up with his knife. He stalked her like a dog, and he killed her," Carol Alexander from The House of Ruth said.
Adam May reports The House of Ruth met with Williams minutes before the violence, helping her get a protective order.
Court documents obtained by Eyewitness News show a history of abuse. Last month, she wrote about Cleaven Williams:
"...held me down against my will with scissors and cut all the hair off the back of my head. I screamed...for the children."
Again, two weeks ago, in her own handwriting, Williams wrote, "I am afraid of him, I don't know what he'll do."
"We were in shock that something like this could happen to a young man who had so much promise," City Councilman Jack Young said.
Young worked closely with Cleaven Williams at the Greenmount Community Association.
"He was so interested in trying to heal the community and keeping violence out of the community, and he really needed someone to help him," Young said.
Williams was shot by an off-duty police officer who witnessed the violence. Organizations that help battered women say someone else should have stepped in much earlier.
"Please, please please, Don't let the Mrs. Williams' of the world, don't let this continue, we can stop this. We know she was abused for three years. No one acted," Alexander said.
Numerous sources tell WJZ Cleaven Williams is the president of the Greater Greenmount Community Association. No one with that group would talk on camera, but their website includes pictures of elected officials. It says their focus is on preventing violence.
In a written statement, the Greater Greenmount Community Association said: "Our heart is heavy with this news and our thoughts and prayers go out to Veronica and C.J.'s three children and other family members. This is a personal tragedy and a tragedy for our community."
WJZ has confirmed just three hours before the stabbing a judge granted Ms. Williams a temporary protective order. It had not yet been served on her estranged husband.
Judge Jeannie Hong tells Eyewitness News she granted that order because there were "reasonable grounds that an assault has been committed on her by him."
WJZ has also learned Veronica Williams filed for a protective order just days before--on Nov. 9--but when she did not appear in court, it was dismissed. She got help from the advocacy group House of Ruth.
When a police officer came across the violent scene Monday, investigators say he tried to get Mr. Williams to stop. When he would not, the officer tased him. When that did not work, he shot him.
"The officer was within every right to act using his police powers," said Troy Harris, Baltimore City Police.
Judge Hong says in Baltimore City, there were 9,559 hearings for protective orders in the first nine months of this year.
WJZ explored the domestic violence crisis in an investigation last May when we spoke to first lady and city judge Katie O'Malley.
"It's troublesome for the judge because even when you do grant the order, you know you're giving this petitioner a piece of paper and that can't really protect you from a gunshot," she said.
Cleaven Williams has been under armed guard recovering from gunshot wounds at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
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