INDIANAPOLIS — A mother’s plea to young women in her community:
“If a man gonna tell you they gonna kill you, believe ‘em. Get away from them. Don’t go through what I’m going through.”
De’Janelle Gaines was killed on Dec. 19.Tayveon Ward shot himself in the same incident. The coroner ruled the shooting a homicide-suicide.
Tanya Myles says her daughter was a domestic violence victim.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, 42.5% of Hoosier women and 27.9% of Hoosier men experience intimate partner physical or sexual violence and/or stalking in their lifetimes.
“They’re gonna be traumatized behind this. They seen it. They was there. I wanna get help for my grandkids too, because they’re gonna need it. We’re also gonna need it because this hit us hard," Myles said.
Gaines just turned 24 in November.
She was enrolled in the Upward Bound Program at Indiana University Bloomington and had dreams of being a pediatric nurse.
Gaines leaves behind four children: a five, three, two and one-year old.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Myles will now play mom and Grandma to Gaines’ children.
She says she’s at a loss for how to afford the additional expenses of raising four more children.
“You know, a better living situation, too. I got more kids now and I’m definitely gonna need a bigger space to raise my grandkids," she said.
She’s asking for the community’s help and support at this time.
If you’d like to help the family, you can find a link to their GoFundMe here.
If you or someone you know is a victims of domestic violence, you can call the following numbers:
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
An IMPD spokesperson tells WRTV the homicide investigation is still active and ongoing.
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