Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumMy 2-Year-Old Daughter Was Murdered by Her Father
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Warrior mom Jacqueline Franchetti is working to change the family court system and protect other children from the same fate
Jun 09, 2021
By Stephanie Thurrott
Jacqueline Franchetti remembers her 2-year-old daughter Kyras favorite things. Kyra liked to go fast down the slide, and she liked Mickey Mouse, bubbles and independence. Everything was, I do it, Mama, Franchetti says.
Franchetti doesnt know what Kyra would like today. Thats because in 2016 Kyra was murdered by her father who shot her in the back twice, then doused his home in gasoline and set it on fire, killing himself in a murder-suicide.
Kyra would have turned 7 this year. I miss her every single second of every day, Franchetti says. When I go to visit her grave, I dont even know what to bring or leave behind. What do 7-year-old girls like?
No Escape from Abuse
Franchetti did everything legally possible to keep Kyra safe from the day she was born. Franchetti had left the relationship with Kyras abusive father, but she allowed him to visit her and Kyra in the hospital. He was angry, and Jaqueline was so fearful for Kyras safety that she got out of bed with Kyra in her arms, even though she was recovering from a C-section.
Franchetti was served with papers when Kyra was a few weeks old, and her case continued in family court until Kyra was murdered. The first time I entered Nassau County Family Court, I thought Kyra would be protected. I quickly learned our courts do not protect the children; they protect the abuser. Kyras entire life, we were in family court, she says. When you end up in family court, the abuse doesnt stop.
https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/true-survivor-stories/my-2-year-old-daughter-was-murdered-by-her-father
abqtommy
(14,118 posts)...
niyad
(120,041 posts)Jilly_in_VA
(10,911 posts)that in cases like these, where the judge, and particularly the forensic evaluator (whatever that is) are so clearly in the wrong, there should be some kind of criminal punishment for them. When there is a clear pattern of abuse, it is NOT a "sad and mad" case. That is pure stupidity.
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)protection in families. Infuriating!
What is also disturbing to me about domestic violence, how can a human being do this? How is it possible to look at such a little angel and do her any harm? If I live to be a million years old, I will never understand this.
Jilly_in_VA
(10,911 posts)My friend's 4 year old granddaughter was murdered by her grandfather right in the home with her parents...in the basement. So yeah. And my daughter's best friend's boss was killed by her husband. And I am a domestic violence survivor. So yeah. I don't get it.
And the law is way behind. Orders of protection are not worth the paper they are printed on.
BeckyDem
(8,361 posts)But we must make protection a priority, and we have failed thus far.
I would like to think as a society we could become a much less violent society, we have to try.
In solidarity.