Victims' voice

When Michelle Major met, fell in love and married the man who swept her off her feet, she had no idea her life was going to take a violent turn, shaking her to her core.

Major, 40, said she met her husband when he joined her church choir. Six months later they were married. Shortly after that the verbal and emotional abuse began, she said.

Three months later, Major was pregnant and in a marriage turning ugly with physical abuse. The abuse continued to escalate and when Major's daughter was born, her husband threatened to kill her if she ever tried to take the child and leave.

At the time, Major had no idea it would take the intervention of the Hickory Police Department's Victim Services Coordinator Aleia Fox to help her begin the process of rebuilding her shattered life. Bridging the gap between victims, the legal system and the myriad of aid agencies is the core mission for the Hickory Police Department's Victim Services Coordinator.

Traditional policing methods focus attention, effort and resources on criminals. Adding the Victim Services division in 1993 has allowed the HPD to expand its focus to include providing victims with the support system they need.

"The system is very intimidating for a lot of people," Fox said. "There are a lot of resources and it's my job to point people in the right direction."

In August of 2008, after a particularly violent attack, Major left with her baby. When she returned to the home, she discovered her husband had slashed more than 90 of her paintings — her life as an artist's work.

"He said, 'You took what I love the most so I took what you love the most,'" Major said. Then her husband attacked her.

"The last memory I have of my husband is of his hands around my throat, strangling me and screaming at me that he was going to kill me this time," Major said. She thinks her husband only stopped because he thought he had killed her. When she regained consciousness and he realized she wasn't dead, he attacked her again. She managed to get a phone and barricade herself in the bathroom where she called 911 and reported her husband was trying to end her life.

After Major's 911 call, her husband fled the house. Several hours later Hickory police found him and arrested him for attempted voluntary manslaughter. His bond was set at $70,000. He has since made bond, been released and is awaiting his day in court.

At the hospital Major met Fox.

"She stayed with me for several hours," Major said. "She worked closely with Department of Social Services to make sure I was safe, placed in hiding and that my 5-week-old child would be kept safe."

Full attention

Every morning Fox goes over the departmental reports from the previous day to determine if any crimes happened that produced victims who require her services. Every domestic violence and sexual assault case gets her full attention. She makes contact with the victim and works with them to determine what kind of services they require.

Fox is essentially a one-woman unit and she isn't always able to make personal contact with every victim of every crime.

For some crimes, such as break-ins and vandalism, she sends a letter out with her contact information in it and information about the services available from the police department. Fox said in a typical week she'll mail between 30 to 40 of the letters.

Victims of break-ins often feel a sense of violation and fear, she said. For these victims, Fox regularly enlists the aid of Hickory police officer Randy Isenhour, who is available to visit the victim's home and perform a security check of the premises and, if needed, make suggestions for security upgrades or improvements.

She also accompanies officers on death notifications, suicides, homicides and severe car accidents. It's her job to be compassionate, understanding and sympathetic.

Fox said one part of the job that's tough is that, as a one-woman unit, her time is limited.

"I regret that I cannot be more involved in every case," she said. "I'd love to sit in court with every victim of violent crime."

When Major met Fox at the hospital as her injuries were being attended to, she asked if there was any way, through counseling or therapy, that her husband could stop abusing her and become the type of loving person she believed he was when she met him.

"I trusted that, in her profession, her experience and as a woman she would know, but she said, 'No. He's not going to change,'" Major said.

Major trusted Fox's advice and never went back to her husband.

"Knowing that I've helped just one person is probably the most satisfying part of my job," Fox said. "In domestic cases, it's that one person that gets out of their situation and moves forward that makes it all worthwhile."

Major is determined to teach her daughter to be a strong and capable woman, and she refuses to ever endure abuse again.

She has begun to rebuild her life and she's painting again. Her first paintings after the attack were dark and tortured representations of her abuse and the pain it caused.

It has taken time, but her paintings have become infused with brilliant color and light. Major is dedicated to using her talent to reach out to other women in abusive relationships with the message that there are options and they don't have to stay victims.