Domestic violence can impact anyone, at any age, and under a variety of circumstances.
Mildred Muhammad is the ex-wife of the D.C. Sniper. She said her husband went on a deadly, three-week rampage as practice, and she was the real target.
Mildred’s scars weren’t physical; rather, emotional ones that ran deep. “I didn’t move past it. I healed through it,” she said.
She can pinpoint the moment her relationship with her then-husband changed. When he wanted to keep his eldest son and not return him to his first wife.
“He felt I did not take his side and therefore did not deserve anything,” Mildred explained.
After seeing a public service announcement on TV, she realized she was a victim.
Ultimately, she divorced John Muhammad.
“They gave me a lifetime restraining order. But visitations were still included in that process. And so, we had to go to court for custody,” she added.
Mildred feels that gave her ex-husband the opportunity he needed to take their three children and leave the country.
She said he was supposed to bring them back Sunday night, and he never did. “So, they were gone for 18 months.”
She ended up in the hospital because she couldn’t eat or sleep. Somehow, he was watching.
“He called. And I said, ‘Why won’t you let the children call me?’ He said, ‘We don’t always get what we want, do we?’ So, he had already told me that ‘you have become my enemy. And as my enemy, I will kill you,'” Mildred said, “Law enforcement asked ‘Mrs. Muhammad, did you know you were the target?'”
That mental torture he unleashed on Mildred is the same that John Allen Muhammad unleashed on the Washington D.C. area in 2002.
Her ex and Lee Boyd Malvo went on a three-week shooting spree, terrorizing the region by randomly shooting people as they did everyday tasks like gassing up.
They killed 10 and wounded three beginning on October 2, 2002.
John Allen Muhammad died by lethal injection in 2009.
Lee Boyd Malvo is serving several life sentences.
Resources
- National Network to End Domestic Violence: Financial Abuse
- Consider applying for a micro-loan with NNEDV’s Independence Project to begin rebuilding your credit score.
- Domestic violence myths
- Domestic Violence Centers map
Charlotte County
Center for Abuse and Rape Emergencies
Phone: 941-639-5499
FAX: 941-639-7079
Hotline: 941-627-6000
SMS Text: 941-449-8534
TDD: 941-627-6000
Website: https://www.carefl.org
Chat: http://www.resourceconnect.com
Collier County
The Shelter for Abused Women & Children
Phone: 239-775-3862
FAX: 239-775-3061
Hotline: 239-775-1101
TDD: 239-775-4265
Website: http://www.naplesshelter.org
DeSoto County
Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center
Phone: 941-365-0208
FAX: 941-365-4919
Hotline: 941-365-1976
TDD: 941-365-1976
Website: http://www.sparcc.net
Glades County
Abuse Counseling and Treatment
Phone: 239-939-2553
FAX: 239-939-4741
Hotline: 239-939-3112
TDD: 239-939-3112
Website: http://www.actabuse.com
Hendry County
Abuse Counseling and Treatment
Phone: 239-939-2553
FAX: 239-939-4741
Hotline: 239-939-3112
TDD: 239-939-3112
Website: http://www.actabuse.com
Lee County
Abuse Counseling and Treatment
Phone: 239-939-2553
FAX: 239-939-4741
Hotline: 239-939-3112
TDD: 239-939-3112
Website: http://www.actabuse.com