A pregnant woman was beaten to death. No one helped her, not even the bond judge
For two hours, a woman cried out for help in the backroom of an Upstate home.
No one answered.
Her boyfriend relentlessly pummeled her, according to reports.
No one stopped him.
His aunt and uncle heard the screams from another room, police said.
No one moved, according to investigators.
When the cries stopped, or maybe as the last one whimpered from the woman’s mouth, a baby slid out of her dead or dying body, reports say. She had been seven months pregnant when her life and baby were beaten out of her. The baby was either born dead or died there.
Despite having the chance, no one prevented this fatal violence.
No one.
It’s time for inaction to end.
As reported by The State’s Lyn Riddle, Tyler Wilkins was charged with murder in 22-year-old Clarrissa Winchester’s death. Saturday, police arrested Thomas Burnett, 43, and Melissa Michelle Burnett, 49, for failure to report a felony. The two, who are Wilkins’ aunt and uncle, were in the home as Wilkins forced the yells from Winchester’s throat with his fist, according to reports.
While the aunt and uncle are accused of doing nothing, who knows what fear they were living in at that moment and what factors played into their decision-making. But another decision factored into Winchester’s death — a judge set Wilkins free.
Following an incident with Winchester in December 2021, police charged Wilkins with aggravated domestic violence, two counts of attempted murder, pointing and presenting a firearm, resisting arrest, throwing bodily fluids and threatening the life of a public official, a background check showed. A judge granted Wilkins bond, which he posted after about six weeks in jail.
Winchester’s death shows the need for bail bond reform that will keep people accused of physically violent crimes, particularly domestic violence, in jail.
Releasing someone charged with three violent, life-threatening offenses? That makes zero sense even by the court’s own standards.
Judges consider two factors when determining if someone is let out of jail to await trial. Those factors include whether the person is a flight risk, meaning will they flee South Carolina or not show up for court hearings, and if the person is a danger to the community or victims.
Many argue that even with one violent charge, like attempted murder, the person should stay in jail, and judges have kept suspects in jail for such a charge. Having three life-threatening charges is enough evidence to keep a person in jail, especially when one of those charges is the highest degree of domestic violence.
South Carolina’s struggle with high rates of domestic violence are well documented. For years, South Carolina was one of the worst states for the number of women killed by men, and the deaths were driven by domestic violence.
It’s time South Carolina ensures that people who are a danger to communities are not let out of jail on bond. That’s not to say that South Carolina should keep its jails full of people who simply can’t afford bail on nonviolent offenses. People charged with such crimes should actually have an easier path out of jail than South Carolina currently provides.
Bond reform has already shown it can garner bipartisan support. State Sens. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, and Brian Adams, R-Berkeley, came together in October to say they were exploring legislation to change how bond is granted. They were responding after a person out on bond struck a Richland County deputy with a car and, later, was again released on bond, police said.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has supported keeping people charged with violent crimes in jail to await trial.
Crafting a bipartisan bond reform plan should be easy. Make it more difficult for judges to grant bond to people charged with violent crimes, as Republicans will certainly support, but make it easier for people charged with nonviolent, low level crimes to get out of jail, as Democrats will likely support.
In crafting this legislation, domestic violence victim advocates must be consulted.
Winchester’s violent death was disgusting, in part because she died following a failure that was predictable given the well-known characteristics of domestic violence in South Carolina.
Who’s going to stand up to keep high-level domestic violence suspects in jail?
For South Carolina’s sake, for women’s sake, for anyone experiencing an abusive relationship, someone needs to soon.
