Each year, the killings of Minnesota women by their husbands, boyfriends and other intimate partners are duly reported to the public. Rarely do citizens glimpse the wider costs of such crimes, particularly for the families grieving for mothers, daughters and sisters lost to violence committed in the name of love.
Over the past year, writer Maja Beckstrom and photographer Ginger Pinson have followed one such family. Since Latisha Barnes was killed by her boyfriend on Nov. 5, 2000, the lives of her mother, brother and four small children have been forever changed. A doting grandmother became mother to four traumatized children. A troubled boy was forced to share his mother's strained attention. And four small children are growing up in the shadow of violent loss.
Government programs sustain them. A murder trial sought justice. But the burden of healing the past and stopping the contagion of violence falls heaviest on a wounded family.
Request Publications
-
Tragedies & Journalists
A 40-page guide to help journalists, photojournalists and editors report on violence while protecting both victims and themselves.
-
Covering Children & Trauma
When children are victims of violence, journalists have a responsibility to report the truth with compassion and sensitivity.