MEDINA, Ohio — As Ohio lawmakers enter the lame duck session, ready to push through bills that haven’t yet passed before the general assembly ends at the end of the year, domestic violence advocates and survivors are hopeful that Senate Bill 90 will be one of them.
Senate Bill 90 makes strangulation a felony, as opposed to a misdemeanor, what it is now.
It’s an important and personal cause for Jess Patz and Angelia Miller. The two Northeast Ohio women have an unusual and unbreakable bond.
“We were both married to the same man, at different times,” said Patz. “Having two survivors of the same abuser is powerful and I want the legislators to take that into consideration.”
Patz divorced her husband after years of physical, emotional and verbal abuse, including strangulation.
“I met her when she was dating my, then, ex-husband and she became stepmother to my two children and our stories unraveled in ways we never saw coming,” said Patz.
Miller married him in 2014. She became his next victim. Her last night with him in 2017, was nearly her last night alive.
“We had been arguing which was typical. He grabbed his belt and strangled me with his belt. He was telling me that if I wasn’t honest with him, I was going to die,” she said. “He was sitting on top of me and he started punching me and he broke my nose and cheekbone, and then after that he started sexually assaulting me.”
In and out of consciousness, Miller managed to narrowly escape. She drove herself to a hospital.
Eventually, her husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his actions that night.
“It doesn’t just go away after the strangulation is over. It’s a lasting effect that haunts you for years,” said Miller.
In 2018, Miller testified in front of Ohio lawmakers to urge them to pass the bill, at that time, that would make strangulation a felony. It never passed.
“I look back and I’m like what did I say that didn’t get through or what do they not understand about my story? It’s not my story, it’s my life,” she said.
Now, years later, the pair is still in a fight to get harsher penalties for strangulation, but they’re hoping this year will be different and that lawmakers can vote on Senate Bill 90.
“Something need to happen legally so people that are in this situation feel like somebody has their back,” said Miller. “We are lucky to have survived. There’s so many people who have not and will continue to not survive. This is a huge step in the right direction,” added Patz.
Ohio is one of only two states in the country that hasn’t passed a bill making strangulation a felony.
Melissa Graves with the Journey Center for Safety and Healing, supporting those impacted by domestic violence, said strangulation is the most dangerous and lethal form of domestic abuse.
“The data and the evidence-based data shows that when strangulation is present in a relationship, it is 700% it’s 7 times more likely that that situation will end up in a homicide,” said Graves. “It needs to be a felony and people need to be held accountable for attempting murder through strangulation.”
SB 90 is still in Senate Committee, if it does not pass through Senate at the end of this lame-duck session, the legislative process will have to start over next year.
“Contact your state, your senators and your House representatives, and urge them to take action and get this over the line so we can get it done and protect women in our communities,” said Graves.
Graves’ center has a link on their websiteto learn more about SB90 and to find your local representative.
The Journey Center for Safety and Healing’s 24-hour help line is 216-391-4357. You can call or text.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
