The reporting team:
Reporter Jason Brown and photographer Claudia B. Laws began a one-year investigation of how domestic violence is handled in Lafayette after the 2004 murder of Alicia Isaac.
They followed Isaac's family for a year to put a face on the problem. With her photography, Laws told the story of Kiiurstin, the daughter Alicia left behind, while Brown told the story of Alicia's mother, Betty, and how she faced overcoming grief.
They began compiling the arrest records in Lafayette Parish for an entire year and, with the help of Assistant Metro Editor Arnessa M. Garrett, they tracked those cases through the courts.
Brown teamed up with reporter Marsha Sills to tell the stories of the people who deal with domestic violence daily and what they thought could make the system work better.
How the arrest records were compiled:
The Lafayette Parish Correctional Center prints a list of every person booked into the jail each day. Those records contain the charges, along with the person's name, date of birth and address. The information from the arrest records was taken to both city and parish court, where each name was entered into the computer systems. The court records were checked over the course of the year to find the latest outcome of each case.
For the cases that could not be found in the court computer, a list was given to an assistant district attorney to determine which cases were refused and which were pending in parish court. After a public records request by
The Daily Advertiser
, the city prosecutor also provided that information. The arrests and their outcomes were entered into a database to provide an analysis of a year of domestic violence in Lafayette.
Article Sections
- The Days After
- Fewer Than Half of Accused Abusers Convicted in a Year
- Lafayette Among Top 5 Parishes for Protective Orders
- Caseloads Keep Courts Busy
- Prosecutors Caught Between Victims and Duty
- Finding a Way to Hope Again
- Father's Grief Shaded by Questions
- Concern Doesn't End With Shift
- Doctor Sees the Cases That Aren't Always Counted
- Ending the Cycle of Violence, One Abuser at a Time
- United Front Against Violence Fraying, Program Founders Say
- A Year in Domestic Violence
- Ouachita Putting Aid for Victims Under One Roof
- Resources, Training Hinder Law Enforcement Response Locally
- Opinion: Let's Start a Serious Dialogue for the Families
- Opinion: Domestic Violence is a Real Event That Occurs Every Day
- Stories That Will Never Be Told
- About this Section
- 2006 Dart Award Final Judges
Jason Brown
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Jason Brown, 28, began his career as an intern at The Daily Advertiser in 2004 and was promoted to a full-time night cops position shortly afterward.
Since then, Brown has worked as a general assignment reporter focusing on public safety and environmental issues.
Marsha Sills
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Marsha Sills is a staff reporter at The Daily Advertiser. Sills started her career at the newspaper in late 2001 as a night cops reporter and covered the unfolding investigation of the 2002 murder of a local woman whose death was linked to serial killer Derrick Todd Lee.
For the past two years, Sills has covered higher education. Most recently, health-care issues have been added to her beat coverage. During Hurricane Rita, Sills reported from Lake Charles, La., which was hit hard by the storm.
Request Publications
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Tragedies & Journalists
A 40-page guide to help journalists, photojournalists and editors report on violence while protecting both victims and themselves.
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Covering Children & Trauma
When children are victims of violence, journalists have a responsibility to report the truth with compassion and sensitivity.