Is Mass. Doing Enough To Prevent Domestic Violence?

Is Massachusetts doing all it can to prevent domestic violence?

The topic is back in the news following the brutal murder of Jennifer Martel at the end of last week. Martel was stabbed to death, allegedly by her boyfriend Jared Remy, the father of her daughter, who was home at the time.

The case has attracted attention in part because the suspect is the son of the veteran Red Sox broadcaster, Jerry Remy. But also because it raises questions about the way authorities handle allegations of domestic abuse.

In Remy's case, he had a long history of violence, including violence against women. Last week, Waltham police arrested him and charged him with battery and assault with a deadly weapon of Martel — and released him with an emergency restraining order in place.

The following morning, Remy was back in court, but Martel, did not renew the restraining order, so Remy was released without bail.

The following day, Remy allegedly stabbed and killed Martel.

It would seem that there were multiple red flags along the way. And yet a man with a record of domestic violence was arrested, released and then allegedly went on to murder. What are the lessons here?

Annie O'Connor, founder of the Brigham and Women's After Care Clinic for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence

Suzanne Dubus, CEO of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center

- Jane Doe Inc.

- Casa Myrna 

- Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center

New Yorker "Dorothy and William had two daughters, Kaitlyn and Kristen. Once, in a rage, William sat on Kristen’s chest until she couldn’t breathe; she was eleven. Another time, angered by what she was wearing, he hit her repeatedly in the head. That day, Dorothy took Kristen from their home, in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and drove to a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Maine. (Kaitlyn, who was seventeen, stayed behind in order to graduate from high school on schedule.) Dorothy feared that William knew the local network of domestic-violence shelters; in Maine, she felt, she would be safe."