As Milford Remembers Mom, Advocates Plan Domestic Violence Victim Support in Legislature

From community memorials to street signs wrapped with a touch of purple, the city of Milford is paying tribute to mom Julie Minogue.

Carlos Smith tells us this is the second year he and his wife have decorated the Dawes Street sign on the corner of their street.

“It’s something to do and it’s nice,” Smith said. “We got a lot of people walking their dogs by here and they’ve made comments that it was nice.”

He says there was word around town to add purple for domestic violence awareness following Minogue’s murder on Dec. 6. Police have charged her ex-boyfriend, Ewen Dewitt, in connection with her death.

“The girl was murdered,” Smith said. “We want to do something so that people aren’t forgetting about her.”

Liza Andrews of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence says there have been 12 domestic partner homicides this year.

During the next legislative session, they have several priorities for victims statewide. One is economic empowerment.

“How do we help them deal with things like coerced debt? How do we help them with evictions? Can we get eviction records sealed?” said Andrews, who points out that evictions are often caused by an abuser and can follow the victim as they try to move forward.

They’ll also work on replacing upcoming cuts to their federal funding, which she says goes toward court advocates and the statewide domestic violence hotline. They plan to work with the state delegation to fill the gap, and hope the federal delegation can find another funding source.

Andrews says there’s also plans for an advisory council that will take a wholistic look at how the justice system responds to domestic violence. The topics include offenders appearing in court, the processing of warrants, the expansion of GPS monitoring and violations of court orders.

“CCDAV runs the state domestic violence fatality review committee, and they’ve been saying for years that the violations of orders is one of the biggest red flags for fatal violence,” Andrews said. “If you have an individual who is not willing to abide by the authority of the court, those are the individuals we really need to hone in on and hold accountable for their actions.”

For Milford, Mayor Ben Blake says the tight-knit community has really come together around Minogue’s memory and support for the three sons she leaves behind.

He says the decorations around town help focus on what’s really important this season. It also keeps the memory of a Milford mom top of mind for residents.

“We lost a member of our Milford family,” Blake said. “And it’s something that our whole community will forever grieve.”