'All I remember is hitting the ground' - Woman's horrific tale of abuse ended with being pushed out of a full speed car
Helena Moreno says Tia is not alone, saying, "So often these crimes are not treated with the seriousness of the actual crime or assault."
Lurking behind closed doors is a hidden epidemic plaguing the city of New Orleans. An ugly secret many keep hidden until the violence turns into a crime scene.
Domestic violence and sexual assault numbers across the New Orleans area are at an unprecedented high.
In a two-part series, WWL Louisiana’s Eleanor Tabone explains how the dangerous silence of domestic violence and sexual assault is striking the homes of many.
Wells' story
On February 2, 2016, calls started flooding dispatch, with witnesses pleading for help.
Their calls described a harrowing scene, a woman thrown from a moving car on the Crescent City Connection. Trelva Wells was hurled from the car, like an object. The white lines on the road were the last thing she saw before everything went black.
New Orleans Police rushed to the scene. Onlookers were shocked by the bloody aftermath of the senseless act of violence. Then 35-year-old Trelva Wells was left broken and motionless, by a man she once loved.
Her smile now exudes comfort and light, but underneath, is a woman who's endured more pain than one could simply imagine. "The person I dated in high school was my son's father. We had a good relationship. It was a good five years," she recalled.
Trelva and her then partner Dave Turner Sr., were engaged, and soon after she found out she was pregnant. "Everything was good up until I had my son and then I just don't understand what happened," she said. "The arguments got worse… then once he put his hands on me, I had to go."
Six years went by and Trelva moved on. Unbeknownst to her, things were about to take a dark turn. "I was getting ready to go to a funeral one morning. I was getting ready to walk out the door. I opened my side door and I got hit. I didn't even know what I got hit with. I just got hit. I was almost at my own funeral."
"He told me was about to make your life a living hell." That's exactly what he did. Trelva tried to escape, but she didn't make it.
"He caught me on the side of the house. He dragged me all the way back inside. We were fighting, going down the hallway. He got me to my room. He was trying to take my clothes off but I wouldn't budge. So he started choking me. I just don't know if I just passed out or what happened but when I got back up I had no clothes on. And the man was on top of me. And he was having sex with me and I was unconscious. So when I realized what was going on, of course, I'm trying to push him off of me I'm screaming, I'm yelling, we're fighting again. He chokes me again."
Trelva says in this moment, she thought she was going to die, in her very bed. "He pulled me all the way down my hallway, pulled me out of my house, and then got me into his SUV."
Her only thought was her son, and she knew time was ticking. "I knew if he got me to his house. I knew I would never be seen again."
"So I looked down and saw that I had my mace in my purse. So when I picked it up, all I did was spray it. I just wanted him to slow the car down. I didn't think he was going to do what he did."
No one could imagine the extent this man would go. Trelva said, "He took his hand off of the steering wheel, reached over me to open that passenger side door. When that door came open, I begged him, I said, don't do it. I don't know what you got to do but don't do it. I said we both have a son. I begged him. He took this shoulder and pushed."
"All I remember is hitting that ground."
14 surgeries and three years later
Staff at University Medical Center worked to save her life. Her family was called to say their goodbyes as doctors feared she wouldn't make it. "My leg was like almost hanging off. All you see was bone. It was no skin. It was no meat."
Her injuries, were extensive, "Both of my knuckles were busted open. My skull was busted open. I had bruises going all the way all these little black spots. You see, it was all open meat. It was no skin. I had no skin on my arms, my back, my back, I had no skin on my back."
Surgery after surgery, doctors worked to put her back together. "It got to the point where I told the doctor. I can't do this anymore. I said, I know I got a son at home, that I love to death, but I can't do this anymore."
But 14 surgeries and three years later, she made it.
Bernard's story
According to the New Orleans Family Justice Center, domestic violence intakes are up by 33% from 2023. This year alone, from January to May, four women sought help from the center after suffering gunshots. For the same period, three men and six women were stabbed – all by intimate partners or spouses.
31-year-old Tia Bernard is a New Orleanian through and through. She embarked on her career in education, but as her journey unfolded, she stumbled upon something far more sinister. At 24, Tia should've been enjoying her 20s, instead her trust in male companionship was tarnished.
"I have experienced sexual assault, twice in my life. I was raped on my 24th birthday by a friend who I grew up with. So I had known him for about 10 to 12 years."
Tia says she didn't report the assault.
"I've had several friends who were raped. And all I heard were horror stories about when they tried to report it when they tried to go to court. I just kept it to myself for years. I internalized it."
A resilient young woman, who already endured the trauma of sexual assault bravely tried to continue with her life, but her resilience was once again tested. "The second time that I was sexually assaulted, it was by a friend who I had known for about six years."
She says she was assaulted again at a party, but this time she found the courage to go to the police. "When I first walked in the officer at the desk, never even looked up… didn't look me in my face like."
Supporting victims
Tia says her cries for help were met with uninterest, leaving her feeling betrayed. City councilwoman Helena Moreno says Tia is not alone, saying, "The biggest problem with domestic violence and sexual assault as well, is that so often these crimes are not treated with the seriousness of the actual crime or assault. And that's been incredibly frustrating."
She says some headway has been made, like launching the AIR Program. A partnership with the New Orleans Family Justice Center, the program connects a victim with an advocate who helps them navigate the justice system. It also places victims in emergency housing and helps with medical payments.
Councilwoman Moreno says the state needs to allocate more money to funding prevention services. She said, "It's like Louisiana, you know, has constantly ranked as not a good place for women, which is probably one of the reasons why our rates of sexual assault and domestic violence look the way that they are."
That's why these survivors are sharing their stories. Tia said, "I feel like I'm blooming more now… it definitely feels good to not have to hide this anymore. And to let people know that they are not alone, you know, and that this is pretty common. And we're going to talk about and until we can't anymore, and so these numbers in our city go down."
In doing so, reclaiming their voices, Trelva said, "People are embarrassed when it happens to them... They're scared to tell anybody because you feel like it's your fault. It's not your fault."
Dave Turner Sr. was sentenced to 15 years for attempted manslaughter and five years for simple kidnapping.
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