FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — In 2009, Allison Holt was murdered by her estranged husband, just days after her family says she filed a restraining order against him.
For nearly a decade, her mother, Deborah Holt, has made it her mission to find a way to prevent more deaths. Holt has fought for "Allison's Law" several times. Now, on a fourth attempt, lawmakers have filed a bill to track violent domestic abuse offenders in Forsyth County.
"There have been numerous deaths since 2009, when Allison died. And I just can't help but think that some of those could have been prevented," she said.
Holt describes her daughter Allison as funny, loving, caring - a person who made a friend wherever she went. When she died, it was devastating. Her family loved her husband and didn't understand why he'd kill her. When the two separated, she got a restraining order, but he came looking for her.
"You cannot make sense of domestic violence. There's no way," said Holt, "If Allison, if my daughter Allison had had just two or three minutes notice, she would've grabbed her children and left. Immediately. There's no doubt in my mind to that. And I think that she would be alive today."
Here's how it would work. A Forsyth County offender with a prior violent record would be required to wear some sort of a GPS tracker. If the offender came too close to the victim, both the victim and the police would be alerted.
"The perpetrator would wear a small just a wristband or something that would track him and his whereabouts, and give her a perimeter of about two to three miles of safety," Holt explained, "If he got into that area, a beeper on her or her cell phone, or whatever she chose to use, would alert her that he is in that vicinity.
"It just gives a little bit of time for people, if they are having a moment of anger or irrationality or whatever, just gives a moment for the victim to get away."
Holt says, that window of time could save lives. If passed, the pilot program would start in July, and the state's Department of Public Safety would pay for it.
RESOURCES
Here is a list of resources and services available to domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in the Triad and beyond.
Call (866) 331-9474 or text "loveis" to 22522.
Community Intervention and Educational Services (Winston-Salem)
(336) 776-0322
Crisis Line: (336) 228-0360
Crisis Line: (336) 226-5985
(336) 570-6019
Family Justice Center of Guilford County
(336) 641-SAFE (7233)
(336) 703-2287
Crisis Line: (336) 723-8125
Crisis line for Greensboro: (336) 273-7273
Crisis line for High Point: (336) 889-7273
(336) 779-6320
(336) 373-2331
(336) 641-3000 Main line
(336) 641-3795 Child Protective Services
(336) 641-3717 Adult Protective Services
(336) 641-2517 Emergency Assistance