Tomika Chapman, a 47-year-old mother and wife, had been a victim of domestic abuse long before she became a victim of alleged murder. Following domestic violence protocol, she called the police numerous times and had even filed paperwork throughout the years to stop the violence inflicted against her at home.

According to New Orleans Police Department records, Chapman and her husband were no strangers to law enforcement. Local media outlets have uncovered a string of violent incidents reported from the Chapman household. Divorce paperwork was reportedly filed in 2011 and again in 2019, although it is unclear if the couple went through with it or remarried, according to local news reports.

Despite the violence at home, Chapman wrote in protective petition paperwork that her husband had promised that he wouldn't hurt her again.

According to the Times-Picayune newspaper, Chapman filed a protective order in 2019, alleging that her husband had attacked her. “He beat me in my head to where I have been having headaches …," she wrote, according to the newspaper. "I am afraid for my and my child’s life.”

In January, she was granted a two-week restraining order against her husband as well.  According to the newspaper, "She alleged he punched, choked, shoved, threatened and abused her and their 4-year-old daughter. She also alleged her husband raped her with a candle. "I felt like inhuman and hurt at the same time," she wrote in the request for the restraining order.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 12, 2023, law enforcement said that Chapman was fatally shot inside a white Infiniti sedan outside her home in the Little Woods neighborhood of New Orleans. When first responders arrived on the scene, Chapman was on the ground near the vehicle. She would die a short time later at the hospital.

The couple's 4-year-old daughter saw the aftermath of the shooting, according to local TV station WDSU.

After the shooting, Gregory Chapman, 56, went to the police station and turned himself in, according to investigators.

The evil scourge of domestic violence continues to plague the lives of black women in this country.

The Guardian reports that four black women/girls are murdered every day in the United States.If we omit the fatalities, multiple scientific studies have concluded that black women endure higher rates of murder, rape, racism and domestic abuse. 

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A VICTIM!

Read the warning signs of a hurtful relationship.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts or practicing self-harm, contact the the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time. Online live chat is also available. Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741. If you are experiencing domestic abuse, for assistance, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.