Woman shot by veteran boyfriend suffering from PTSD, officials say

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A team of experts from police, to medical professionals and domestic violence survivors tries to save lives by studying every detail of domestic violence murder cases.

Mecklenburg County's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team searches for gaps in the system or warning signs to learn how to prevent tragedies from happening again.

When Loretta Caldwell drives down Graham Street, the memories of meeting Tigist Yemane rush through her mind.

• CLICK PLAY: Loretta Caldwell talks about meeting Tigist Yemane

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"She cleared that traffic and she started hitting my windshield," Caldwell said. "I wound the window down because I was on the phone and she said, 'I need to use your phone. Help me please. Help me lady. Help me lady,'" Caldwell said.

Caldwell said Yemane was running from an abusive relationship and had no way of knowing whose window she was knocking on.

Caldwell's life mission has been providing housing to women in crisis.

Caldwell learned the 23-year-old had traveled more than 8,000 miles from Ethiopia for a lifesaving heart surgery as a teen, and then stayed in the United States.

Read our past coverage on this story:

• Fugitive Surrenders To Face Murder Charge In Charlotte
• Attorney: Client Suffered From PTSD, Was Delusional During Killing
• Woman Killed, Police Search For Gunman In Northeast Charlotte
• Slain Woman Came To Charlotte For Second Chance At Life
• Man accused of murder found not guilty by reason of insanity

It was during that time that Yemane met Iraq war veteran Davon Thomas.

Only a month later, things took a violent and tragic turn.

"Tigist shared that she had went out with him the second time and he had showed her that gun, the one he ended up killing her with," Caldwell said.

Doctors said Thomas suffered from post-traumatic stress, thought Yemane was a Muslim spy, and in 2009 shot her with an assault rifle.

• CLICK PLAY: Loretta Caldwell talks about Tigist Yemane's death

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"She really didn't deserve to be cut down like that," Caldwell said. "She wasn't just shot. She was shot up like she was nothing."

In 2012, a judge found Thomas not guilty by reason of insanity and placed him in a facility for the mentally ill.

A special team of medical and police experts and survivors studied Yemane's murder.

It is one of many cases the team has dissected to search for ways to save domestic violence victims in Charlotte.

Sarah Morton chairs the Fatality Review Team, which looks for gaps in community services or the criminal justice system.

"We try to look at a murder-suicide; we always try to look at a murder that had children involved in the family," Morton said.

The team has reviewed 20 domestic-violence homicide cases in the past five years.

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They discovered many abusers had illegal access to guns, drugs and alcohol were often involved and some abusers had a history of mental illness.

Sgt. Angela Haywood oversees Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit.

She said the team realized communication needed to improve between police and probation and parole after reviewing a domestic violence homicide victim's case.

"Her perpetrator had been involved with probation but the probation officer had no idea what was going on," Haywood said.

As a result, detectives now check the backgrounds of suspected abusers to see if they have criminal records.

If they find a suspect is on probation or parole, they immediately alert probation officers, who can revoke their probation and arrest them.

Caldwell shares Yemane's heartbreaking story with each woman she helps.

"I'm always trying to encourage them to be lifted up and that they don't deserve to be talked down to, or to be hit or to be pushed," Loretta Caldwell said.

She hopes that lesson will save their lives.

WSOC