A woman in North Carolina who wrote a book about domestic violence has allegedly been fatally stabbed by her boyfriend.
Police have arrested Isaih Henderson III, the boyfriend of Aliyah Terry, who was found stabbed to death inside her home in the city of Charlotte on 2 July.
Detectives allege the mother-of-two was killed by Mr Henderson – with investigators saying the believe the murder was domestic violence-related.
Police say they were called to Terry’s home after an argument between her and Mr Henderson, but by the time officers had arrived, Henderson had fled, before later returning.
Officers were again called to the scene, shortly before 2am, where they found Terry who had been stabbed. The 35-year-old was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Henderson, 32, turned himself in to police and has been charged with Terry’s murder.
According to WBTV, phone records of 911 calls show 19 calls made from the address in the past year. Of those, three related to domestic violence, and another related to alleged assault with a deadly weapon.
However, there were no domestic violence protective order records from court, meaning charges were not pressed each time the police came out for an issue.
Terry is the co-author of a book about domestic violence called The Queen Xperience which is currently available for pre-order on Amazon but comes out on 4 August. She recalled her experiences with domestic violence in the book.
Nakita Davis, the book’s publisher, said Terry had hoped her story would inspire abused women. She said half of pre-order sales would go into a fund for Terry’s children.
“She was a beautiful person inside and out, kept a beautiful smile,” Ms Davis told WSOC-TV.
“I want women to walk away knowing there is help,” she said of the book.
Rachel Brummert, her neighbour, is a domestic violence survivor who now works to tackle the issue.
“It’s shocking,” she said. “Somebody heard something. Somebody called the police. Someone was concerned enough to look after her. To hear that he came back later is shocking. It’s sad beyond belief, and I hope she gets justice.”
In America, a woman is killed by a current or former intimate partner with a gun every 16 hours.
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