Suffolk creates alliance to bolster battle against domestic violence with crime analysis, victim advocacy

Meghan Kiefer reported to police her boyfriend had been threatening her and being violent when they lived in Albany. They later moved to Coram but she told her mother, Bevin Llanes, they were breaking up and he was moving out on Oct. 23, 2021.

An hour after that conversation, the 27-year-old returned home, where her ex-boyfriend, Kason Parker, was waiting for her and stabbed her 54 times on the front lawn of her Coram home.

"She endured trauma that no young person should never have to face," Llanes, 55, of Holbrook, said during a news conference Monday in Hauppauge announcing a new domestic violence alliance. "What makes her story even more heartbreaking is not only the abuse that she suffered every day in her adult life, but the lack of coordinated support from the very systems meant to help her."

Suffolk County officials said it was cases like Kiefer's that showed the need for better coordination between law enforcement, courts, social services and nonprofit organizations to assist domestic violence victims and prevent the abuse from happening in the first place.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine signed an executive order to establish a 10-member Alliance Against Domestic Violence. The alliance will use crime data to analyze trends to address domestic violence and connect victims to the legal system and service providers for counseling.

"We need this alliance to take a look at the data to figure out what's going wrong, how can we help people and how can we prevent domestic violence," Romaine said. "We're going to work with our partners in the not-for-profits to make sure there's a response there, because sometimes people just need a little bit of counseling to get through a very difficult time."

There were 27,000 domestic violence cases reported in Suffolk County last year, Romaine said. There were about 280,000 911 calls placed in Suffolk over the past decade for domestic violence, he said.

There were 5,024 reports of women being abused by an intimate partner on Long Island in 2023, marking about a 42% increase since 2019, when there were 3,540 such cases reported, Newsday previously reported. 

Suffolk law enforcement is a key part of the alliance, officials said. The district attorney’s office is hiring 10 more victim advocates in its domestic violence unit. 

Suffolk County Police Chief of Department William Doherty said officers are trained to look for signs of domestic violence, and to notify a supervisor and make arrests whenever there are signs of it, whether or not a victim pursues charges.

Llanes said her daughter had been in touch with police in Albany before she was killed. Parker pleaded guilty to murder charges in 2023. Llanes said she believes a coordinated system of support and resources could have saved her daughter’s life.

"We had frequent contact with law enforcement, but none of the systems worked together. Instead of being supported, it felt like it was us against a maze of disconnected institutions. We were left without guidance, without navigation and without true help," Llanes said. "This alliance is about breaking down silos and ensuring that our systems communicate, collaborate and work hand in hand. "

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.