Durham murder-suicide victim had protective order that failed but experts say most work

According to the Durham County Sheriff's Office, 722 people have filed domestic violence protective orders in the county in 2019 and many of those have been effective.

But for Victoria Amanda St. Hillaire, 28, the domestic violence protective order she had taken out against Lequintin Ford, 33, failed.

According to UNC officials, St. Hillaire had only been employed by the center since September, working as a certified medical assistant.

Experts say the incident represents a worst-case scenario because the order she had was the third one taken out against Ford.

According to the first order, issued in 2015, Ford struck St. Hillaire, threw a brick through her bedroom window and threatened to shoot her. St. Hillaire voluntarily dismissed that order, but sought another in 2018, and when that one expired, another in 2019.

Court records show he violated the protective order, and had pending charges for stalking her and making harassing phone calls.

It's a non-profit that offers services to survivors, including shelter, counseling and legal help.

He says survivors should not be discouraged because many protective orders do what they are supposed to.

"Where you can find hope is in the cases where it has worked," Wallace-Meggs said. "Where lives have been saved because those protective orders were in place."

The Durham County Sheriff's Office has a team ready to help survivors.

She walks survivors through the process of how to obtain a protective order and find other resources.

"Just having a support person, I think, is really important in a process like this," Hamlett said. "You have to know that there’s always hope."

The sheriff's office in Durham is located inside the Durham County Courthouse.