Many red flags that abusive dad was potential killer; two sons were murdered during weekend visitation (Athens, Georgia)

Oh puleeze. These "experts" are idiots. No, none of us have a crystal ball. But that's irrelevant. Once you get past the utterly predictable excuse making and self-serving crap dished out by Dad KEITH JERMAINE GRESHAM's enabling relatives, it's pretty clear that this guy has ALL the classic red flags for a domestic killer. There was no "snapping," no sudden change of character. The murders were perfectly consistent with the father's track record of abuse and threats, and any true expert would have known that this father was at HIGH risk for an escalation of violent behavior:

1) Dad had threatened that he would not "let them leave him," meaning his wife and children.

2) Mom had previously filed several domestic violence complaints.

3) Dad had previously been arrested for stalking for violating a protection order.

So it's not surprising or perplexing to me at all that this father murdered his two young sons the weekend before his probation revocation hearing. In fact, it was extremely likely that he would do something desperate like this, given that he had access to the children.

http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/051010/new_636981968.shtml

Experts: No way to know why father snapped, killed kids Domestic violence questions

By Merritt Melancon - merritt.melancon@onlineathens.com

Published Monday, May 10, 2010

There's no one sign that would have indicated that Keith Jermaine Gresham was going to kill his two sons last Monday instead of returning them to their mother after a weekend visit.

Family members described him as a devoted father who always made time to be with his children, and he wrote in court documents of how much he loved his children.

"Keith has always been a good dad," said Betty Watson, Gresham's cousin. "Nobody could separate him from his children."

But domestic violence advocates say abusers are pushed to the brink by an insatiable desire to control their families.

Gresham shot and killed his sons, 4-year-old Keionte Gresham and 7-year-old Keion Gresham, before killing himself a week ago.

"This is not the first instance of a situation where there is violence between parents, and children play the ultimate price in the situation - whether it's to gain control of the family or to do the ultimate harm to the victim," said Joan Prittie, director of Project Safe.

"That is not an unprecedented situation."

Catrina Doster and Gresham, Keion and Keionte's parents, had been separated for more than a year when the boys were killed.

Gresham was obsessed with Doster "bringing his family back," according to applications Doster filed for protective orders against Gresham. He repeatedly threatened that he would not let them leave him, and she filed several domestic violence complaints.

Gresham had been arrested for aggravated stalking in Oglethorpe County in December for contacting Doster in violation of a court order requiring him to stay 500 yards away from her, according to court documents.

He was scheduled to appear in Jackson County Superior Court for a probation revocation hearing on the afternoon he shot his sons.

Doster allowed Gresham to visit with the children that weekend in advance of his probation revocation hearing, according to Chief Deputy David Cochran. She filed a custody interference complaint with the Commerce Police Department when he did not return the boys.

There's no way to know what led Gresham to kill his sons, said Courtney McVay, director of the Tree House children's advocacy center.

Domestic violence and a history of controlling behavior are definitely a red flag, she said.

"It's a control issue like domestic violence," McVay said. "What's the best way to really hurt a mother? Go after her children."

McVay works as a member of the Child Fatality Review Panel for Barrow, Banks and Jackson counties, a state-mandated panel tasked with reviewing the way children die and recommending ways to keep tragedy from happening in the future.

"There's a lot of times, as professionals, we say that we don't know why something happened, but there are always signs that something could happen," she said. "I wish I knew the answer to why this happens, but unless the person survives the suicide attempt, than we usually never know what factor caused them to do this."

Sometimes, as in the murder of 6-year-old Commerce boy Michael Levigne, McVay and the panel couldn't determine how his death could have been prevented. Michael's step-grandfather, Robert Clark, had no history of violence or abuse toward his wife or grandchildren, but on June 7, he shot and killed Michael after arguing with his wife over a watermelon. He shot Linda Clark while she was protecting their other grandson, and she died a few months later.

In other cases, a pattern of domestic violence or drug abuse might have signaled that something bad could happen.

In 2006, Henry Lee Stringer broke into his estranged girlfriend's house in Hoschton, killed 29-year-old Marvelette Strickland and her mother and then set their house on fire. His two children, ages 2 and 4, died in the fire.

Stringer pleaded guilty in February and now is serving a life sentence, but prosecutors were prepared to introduce evidence at trial that he had a history of threatening Strickland. She recently had started dating someone new, and friends thought Stringer was going to be upset.

On January 3, 2007, Felicia Williams Hill allegedly stabbed and killed her daughter, 9-year-old Elexis Nicole Hill, and her 4-year-old son, James Ross Hill. Earlier that day a Barrow County Judge had ordered the woman into a yearlong drug treatment program.