Warning: This story contains disturbing images and information. Viewer discretion highly advised.
CLEVELAND — Burned, beaten and held captive — a woman who survived a vicious attack speaks out to help other victims of domestic violence.
“Nobody should have to go through this; he wanted me to die, he told me he didn’t care if he killed me,” said Danalynn Folkwein as she sat at the hospital going in and out of procedures after what happened to her last month.
She told News 5 her former boyfriend held her captive for two days and tortured her.
“He was heating up canola oil on the stove, and he poured it on my face, he poured it on my back," she said.
It was not the first time he hurt her. Folkwein said during the three years she was in a relationship with Preston Anderson, he beat her constantly.
“He would choke me, he broke my ribs twice, he broke my nose like ten times,” said Folkwein.
After each attack, she says she forgave him, until March, when she told police he poured boiling hot oil on her. When Anderson found out about the report, she says he did it again and almost killed her.
“I thought I was going to die and he made it clear he didn’t care if I died,” said Folkwein.
Preston Anderson is now charged with felonious assault and domestic violence for the attacks. We found his records show since 2002, he's been charged with 10 other felony cases, including another domestic violence charge.
Alexandria Ruden has worked with domestic violence victims for more than 40 years and even helped write Ohio domestic violence laws. After looking though Folkwein’s case, she says this is one of the worst she’s ever seen and noticed Anderson’s record.
“So, in his prior cases, he pled to a lot of attempts. He pled to lesser included offenses and by doing that he avoided jail time,” said Ruden.
Ruden believes the court system should do a better job of assessing how dangerous someone may be before determining their bond and sentence.
“I think that probation services need more money. I think the warrant units need more money. I think we need more risk assessment tools. Before we let people out on bond that probably, when somebody is a repeat offender, should have no bond until the determination is made,” said Ruden.
She added that there should also be more resources for victims and better enforcement of restraining orders.
“Victims who then prosecute — they are at greater risk too, because they're cooperating with the system rather than with their perpetrator,” said Ruden.
As Folkwein heals, she hopes this time, the man who did this to her ends up in prison and stays there.
“He told me he loved me — that man doesn’t love me. That man never loved me,” she said.
Again, Folkwein wanted to share her story because she wants victims to know they are not alone and to encourage them to seek help so they can leave their abusers. She knows how hard it is, but she says to leave before it gets worse.
We reached out to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office about Anderson's criminal history. A spokesperson declined our request for an on-camera interview, but we did speak to a prosecutor over the phone. She told us Anderson was offered plea deals despite his previous cases because they were lower-level felonies.
Only two of his previous cases involved domestic violence, and those cases did not involve strangulation or guns — which puts a victim at high risk for homicide.
Preston's current case is under review for additional criminal charges; he is scheduled for a pretrial hearing next Monday.
Help and support are available right now if you or someone you know is being abused by their partner.
For the Journey Center for Safety and Healing click here or call 216-391-4357.
Call the Ohio Domestic Violence Network at 1-800-934-9840 or 614-781-9651
The National Domestic Violence hotline is 800-799-7233 and can be found online here.
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