A pregnant woman who was allegedly beaten to death by her abusive ex-boyfriend is being mourned by friends and family, and questions are being raised as to how the crime was allowed to happen in the first place.
Nineteen-year-old Brooke Devinney was allegedly murdered by 23-year-old Devon Blair, who was spotted fleeing the scene by officers. He managed to evade capture at first but was eventually caught a few hours later.
Disturbingly, local media reported that just days before her murder, Devinney had asked police for help, and had previously filed a report on Blair in December after he threatened to kill her. Blair had allegedly stabbed Devinney in the past, put a knife to her throat, and said he would bash her head in. Altogether, there were over a dozen calls to police from September until Devinney’s death.
“Before today’s incident, he had two warrants out for his arrest for domestic violence that did involve Miss Devinney,” Columbus Police Sgt. Joe Albert told ABC 6. “He has proven to be a very dangerous individual who we unfortunately weren’t able to get off the street before he took somebody’s life.”
In December, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Devinney was trying to leave for an appointment when Blair began threatening her. He had her take off her clothes, stripping her naked in the middle of the street, at which point she ran into the garage in an attempt to escape. Blair allegedly punched her and dragged her by her hair inside the house, where he continued hitting her. He then put the knife to her throat while he held her in a chokehold, stabbed her in the stomach, and said he would kill her. When police arrived, he punched and bit the officers.
Blair was eventually arrested relating to that incident, but a judge released him on a $10,000 recognizance bond — which meant he didn’t have to pay — along with an electronic ankle monitor despite his guilty pleas to the assault of a police officer and felony domestic violence. He was ordered to stay away from Devinney as well. “You can’t afford it, dude,” Judge Michael Holbrook said. “That was just cold-blooded making her take off her stuff in the middle of the street. Cold-blooded. Not cool. … If you violate that at all, I’ll throw you in until we’re done. I’m taking a chance, don’t disappoint me.”
READ: Bishop warns: ‘Root of society’s destruction is deterioration of family’
Blair’s recognizance bond was revoked on May 31st and a warrant was issued for his arrest, which never happened. When Devinney was beaten to death, Blair was wearing the ankle monitor, which calls into question why police could not find him in the time between Devinney’s plea for help on Thursday and her murder on Sunday.
In a court appearance after the murder, Blair let loose a string of expletives and demanded to be released on bail. “Now shut the f––– up and give me a f–––––– bond. Say okay, grant it, get me the f––– out of here,” he said, at which point his attorney told him to be quiet; Blair responded, “Shut the f––– up. Should have never brought me down here. I didn’t wanna come. You forced me down here.”
Devinney was 14 weeks pregnant when she died, and her preborn child died just four minutes after Devinney died, according to prosecutors. A GoFundMe page set up for her family indicated she was carrying a boy. During a celebration of her life this week, Devinney’s mother gave an emotional statement.
“He took our baby from us,” she said through tears, and added, “The system (has) to stop letting these repeat offenders out because the system can’t fight for these women. What do they have? Who’s gonna be there for them? They should know that we should not have to go through this. We should not be here.”
Editor’s Note: If you are a victim of domestic violence, please visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE.
