The Coalition hopes that in the wake of this tragedy positive changes will be made to protect victims of domestic violence and to hold batterers accountable. We have already made changes to strengthen our laws with the passage of HB 1634. The Coalition worked with the Cantin family to pass this law which increased the penalty for strangulation from a misdemeanor to a felony level offense. Two days before she was killed Melissa was strangled during a violent attack. Her husband was arrested and bailed out of jail two hours after being taken into custody and charged with a misdemeanor.

There are still lessons to be learned from this case. The Coalition will be at the table when the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee discusses this homicide. We expect there will be recommendations including improved training and communication for all the systems involved in cases of domestic violence, in particular those where a firearm is involved. The Coalition will continue to work closely with our community partners to prevent future tragedies like this.