WACO, Texas — According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 35 percent of women in Texas experience physical abuse from their partner.
And just days after her daughter was killed, a Waco mother is urging victims and their families to seek help before it is too late.
"You can't fix a broken person. They have to want to fix themselves," Latoya Wells said.
This is advice that Wells wished her daughter 20-year-old daughter Sakyra Young would have taken before she was killed on August 14.
“He killed her a long time ago. She wasn’t even walking around happy,” Wells said. “She had her days. We all have our days, but she had bad ones more than anyone else.”
Young was shot multiple times by her boyfriend Michael Howard Jr. on the 2500 block of McFerrin Avenue. Wells said not only did Howard physically abuse her daughter, but he isolated her too.
Isolation is something that Kathy Reid with the Family Abuse Center says is a huge red flag.
"Is he controlling? Is he making all the decisions? Is she jealous of your relationship with your friends,” Reid said. “Does he try to separate you from your family and support system because he doesn’t want you to tell them what is happening in your relationship?"
Statistics from the NCADV show that 75 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds in Texas have either experienced dating violence or know another young person who has. Reid says victims can reach out to the Family Abuse Center or Families in Crisis in Killeen and Temple for help.
The centers offer more than just shelter.
"There are so many other services that we provide that can be helpful to someone in a situation where it feels wrong or threatening,” Reid said.
Wells said she hopes victims can learn from her daughter's tragic story.
"You have to get out. I know it is easier said than done, but if you don’t learn to love yourself first you can't expect anyone else to," Wells said.
Sakyra Young had given birth to a baby back in April, who unfortunately died five days after birth. Young's funeral will be held on Saturday in Waco. Howard is in the McLennan County Jail.
