The Deeper Dig is a weekly podcast from the VTDigger newsroom. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
The apparent murder of Anako Lumumba, a 33-year-old South Burlington nurse who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Leroy Headley, has set off an interstate manhunt. It’s also renewed a statewide conversation about firearms and domestic violence.
Lumumba had sought two relief-from-abuse orders against Headley in 2017. But both were vacated before being finalized, limiting law enforcement’s ability to intervene.
Auburn Watersong, the policy director at the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, calls guns in households experiencing domestic violence “a lethal combination.”
Lawmakers worked to address the issue this session with H.422, a bill that allows law enforcement to seize guns during domestic violence citations. But that law does not address limitations with the relief-from-abuse order process that advocates say leave gaps for abuse.
On this week’s podcast, Watersong describes the challenges of addressing the chronic problem of domestic violence. Plus, South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple discusses the ongoing search for Leroy Headley.
Subscribe to the Deeper Dig on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. Music by Podington Bear and Candlegravity.
