IN-DEPTH |
Part of a series on domestic violence in Springfield and Greene County. Need help? See related story
After waiting more than 30 minutes for his mom to emerge from their house with his Halloween clown costume, the boy got out of the vehicle and tried to open the front door. It was locked.
He found the back door locked as well.
He yelled for his mom several times but got no response.
He called 911.
It was around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2018, a cold and rainy day.
Officers with the Springfield Police Department arrived at the house on Elm Street in west Springfield a few minutes later.
They found the 8-year-old boy sitting with his dogs, Bluff and Beast.
The dogs would be taken to animal control.
Instead of trick-or-treating, the boy would be taken to the police station to wait for family.
Then later at the Child Advocacy Center, a therapist would help the boy’s biological dad explain that his mom, 32-year-old Torie Parrow, was dead.
- Part I: Black eye for Greene Co.
- Part II: Obstacles to leaving
- Part III: Systemic issues
- Part IV: Searching for solutions
Though Torie Parrow’s husband Melvin Parrow, 36, the man who killed her, was on 24-7 house arrest and under court order to stay away from their home on Elm Street, he cut off his ankle monitor and entered the house sometime that day.
When Torie Parrow stopped at the house to get the costume, Melvin Parrow was waiting inside. He shot her in the face and leg before turning the gun on himself.
It was a tragic example of a case, like others reviewed by the Springfield Daily Citizen in preparing this series, where the system — the laws and rules in place that try to reduce domestic violence — could not keep a victim safe from an abuser.
When first arrested, he told his wife: ‘I’ll be out. I’ll get right out’
Experts say incidents of domestic violence are reported to law enforcement only about 25 percent of the time. And of those, victims are willing to cooperate with prosecution maybe 20 to 30 percent of the time.
But after suffering some seven years of mental and physical abuse from her husband, Torie Parrow seemed ready to follow through with his prosecution.
A week prior to her murder, Torie Parrow had called police on her husband. According to court documents, Melvin Parrow had already fled by the time police arrived. Torie Parrow, though, told officers he’d punched her in the head and back and strangled her to the point she could not breathe or swallow. At first, she told police she didn’t want to press charges because it “would cause Parrow to abuse her more.”
Officers left but returned 30 minutes later for another report of domestic assault and found Melvin Parrow was back and had continued the assault. This time, he was arrested.
According to Missouri law, if police return to the same address within 12 hours on reports of domestic violence an arrest must be made.
As he was led away in cuffs, Melvin Parrow looked at his wife and said, “I’ll be out. I’ll get right out.”
And that’s what happened a few days later.
Order of protection, bond conditions didn’t matter
He was charged with felony second- and third-degree domestic assault. Nevertheless, Melvin Parrow — who was already on probation (for not paying child support) at the time of the assault — was quickly released after posting a $50,000 bond on Oct. 29.
Two days later, he killed his wife.
The judge had ordered that he be placed on house arrest and that he be under GPS monitoring 24/7 and have no contact with Torie Parrow or her family.
In addition, Torie Parrow got an order of protection against her husband just before he was released.
Torie Parrow’s younger sister, Kariley May, said none of that mattered, and Melvin Parrow continued to harass his wife once he got out of jail.
“She finally put him in jail. She thought she did the right thing. She thought she was safe,” May said.
May said her sister received more than 200 texts and calls from Melvin Parrow — in violation of her protection order and his bond conditions — during the brief time he was on house arrest.
Victim’s sister pleaded: ‘He is going to kill you’
After Torie Parrow’s murder, her family played for police a voicemail from Melvin Parrow with an ominous warning to his wife: “You just make sure you tell everybody you love them.”
Torie Parrow had told her brother to make sure police hear the recording if something happened to her.
May explained that Melvin Parrow and Torie Parrow owned two houses: the one on Elm Street and another on College Street. The judge ordered Melvin Parrow to stay at the College Street house so his wife and her son could stay at their home on Elm Street.
May said her sister thought she was safe because Melvin Parrow had been ordered by a judge to wear an ankle monitor that would track his whereabouts.
May tried to convince her sister otherwise.
“I said, ‘Torie, are you crazy? That man is going to kill you. He is going to kill you,’” May said. “And she said, ‘Kariley, I don’t have money for a hotel. Me and my son don’t have anywhere else to go. They said I’m safe here.’ I said, ‘You know him, Torie. You are not safe.’”
Torie Parrow wanted to end relationship with husband
Melvin Parrow was abusive almost from the beginning of the relationship, May said. He abused Torie Parrow the night before their wedding. Police records, too, indicate an extensive history of domestic violence.
“She tried to keep him (her son) sheltered as much as she could,” May said. “There was an incident where (her son) walked in and Melvin was on top of my sister, choking her. And he was like, ‘Mommy, I’m scared. I don’t want to stay here anymore.’
“I just wish she wasn’t so stubborn or hard headed,” May said, crying. “Because if she wasn’t, she would have left a long time ago. She would have never got married. She would have just got (her son) a new Halloween costume. She would have never gone back there.”
Though she worried for her sister’s safety, May was proud of her sister for finally wanting to end the relationship.
“She was mentally and emotionally tired. She was tired of running. She was tired of that whole relationship,” May said. “I could hear it in her voice the last couple weeks that I talked to her that she was tired.
“She finally had it. She was done,” May said. “What’s sad is she finally got up the courage to get up and leave. She finally got up the courage to get up and leave, and she was this close. She was this close.”
Victims cannot be promised safety
Brandi Bartel is the executive director of the Victim Center. She spoke with the Daily Citizen about domestic violence in general — not specifically about the Parrow case — and how dangerous it can be when victims try to leave.
“We can’t promise victims that report to law enforcement that they’ll stay safe. We cannot make that promise to them,” Bartel said.
“We cannot promise them they will never have to go to court and not have to face their abuser. And even if they go to court, there is no guarantee the prosecution process will be successful.
“You have to realize for those of us who are working every day in this type of field, there is sort of this sense of collective heaviness or grieving that goes hand-in-hand with those victim fatalities,” Bartel said. “The victims that are murdered or commit suicide — for those of us who are in the field, we feel like we are not doing enough.
“These are extremely dangerous situations,” she said. “And there is still this narrative in our community. I hear it all the time: ‘Well, if I were in that situation, I would just leave. I would just get out.’ It is not that simple. There are life-threatening risk factors for leaving.”
RELATED STORY FROM LIVING IN FEAR SERIES
Fear, and pressure not to snitch, often lead domestic violence victims to clam up — and charges to be dropped
Prosecutors say charges are often dropped in domestic violence cases because the victim declines to testify. Victims decide not to cooperate as often as 80 percent of the time after charges are filed.
Review of recent domestic homicides finds history of abuse common (click to expand)
As part of this series on domestic violence, the Daily Citizen learned of many instances where the system — the laws and rules in place that try to reduce domestic violence — could not prevent injury and, sometimes, death.
“Failure” perhaps is too strong of a word because, in the end, how do police, prosecutors, judges and parole officers prevent someone who is willing to spend life in prison from getting a gun and killing someone?
Of the 16 domestic homicides or murder/suicides that have occurred in Springfield 2018-2022, at least 10 of the murderers had previous convictions of domestic assault and/or orders of protection against them. (Court documents do not identify victims so it’s unclear who they were or who filed for protection orders).
Some of the murderers had previously been ordered to complete a batterer’s intervention program. Due to lack of information, the Daily Citizen was unable to determine if the offenders actually completed the program.
For example, on Dec. 3, 2022, Lavare Everett, 44, shot and killed his girlfriend, Christina Lopez, 45, and then killed himself. Before the murder and suicide, Everett had pleaded guilty to domestic assault in the third degree and was sentenced to seven years.
Instead of serving prison time, he was given probation and a suspended execution of sentence, meaning he would not have to go to prison if he followed the terms of his probation.
The victim in that case was identified in court documents as CL. And as part of that agreement, he agreed to have no contact with CL. Everett also has prior charges of domestic assault from 2020. After the murder and suicide, it became known that Christina Lopez, whom he killed, was his prior victim.
On June 6, 2022, police say Jacob Hodgkins, 32, shot and killed his wife, 42-year-old Ada Hodgkins, at their home on Glenview Avenue in east Springfield. He had been convicted of domestic assault in 2017 and given a suspended execution of sentence and did not go to jail. Instead, he was ordered to attend a class for men who batter women. He is now in Greene County Jail, charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.
On Aug. 25, 2018 — two months before Melvin Parrow shot Torie Parrow — Bob Houston, 40, shot his wife, 32-year-old Slyonandra Patterson. According to online court documents, he had both adult and child protection orders against him in 2003. In 2014, Houston was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and domestic assault/subsequent offense and was referred to as a “persistent offender” in court documents.
Torie Parrow knew Slyonandra Patterson, according to a report from the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office. The report was included in the Springfield Police Department’s file on the Parrow murder/suicide investigation and was signed by Richard Counts, a former investigator with the prosecutor’s office.
Counts wrote that Torie Parrow called the office on Oct. 26, 2018 — five days before she would be murdered — and wanted to speak with the prosecutor assigned to her case because she was afraid her husband was going to bond out of jail.
“She told me she was not going to be the next ‘Slyolandra Patterson,’” Counts wrote. “Torie told me that Slyolandra was a friend. Torie told me she was very scared that Melvin was getting out of jail.”
Victim was in contact with police and prosecutor’s office the day she was murdered
Richard Counts, an investigator for the office of the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney in 2018, wrote that Torie Parrow called the office on Oct. 26, 2018 — five days before she would be murdered — and wanted to speak with the prosecutor assigned to her case because she was afraid her husband was going to bond out of jail.
According to Counts’ report, obtained via a Sunshine request, Torie Parrow told him she planned to rent a motel room on the outskirts of Springfield where her husband couldn’t find her, that she had money and was looking for a new home to rent.
Counts wrote that he explained to Torie Parrow about what services were available to her, such as counseling, orders of protection and shelter at Harmony House. He said he advised her to go to the Family Justice Center for help.
She called again on Oct. 29, 2018, and said she filed for an ex-parte order of protection. Counts wrote that he helped Torie Parrow get her phone set up so she would receive text messages of updates on the case, including when her husband would be released from jail.
Later that day, Counts said he learned Melvin Parrow had just been released. Someone from the prosecutor’s office called Torie Parrow to let her know, but she was already aware because she got the text notification.
On Oct. 31, 2018 — the day she was murdered — Torie Parrow called her victim/witness advocate with the prosecutor’s office to say Melvin Parrow was contacting her by phone and text messages. The advocate told her to come to the prosecutor’s office.
Torie Parrow arrived about 2 p.m. and spoke to Counts about Melvin Parrow’s continued harassment despite the judge’s orders. Counts took photos of the messages on her phone. Her victim/witness advocate asked where she was staying and she said the “shared home” on Elm Street.
Torie Parrow told Counts she thought she would be safe at the Elm Street house because her husband was confident he would beat the charges and would not want to risk going to jail for violating the protection order.
Counts wrote that Torie Parrow left the prosecutor’s office around 3 p.m.
Oddly enough, court documents show that soon after that, Torie Parrow talked to a police officer she happened to see at Reed Middle School. She mentioned the restraining order and the officer told her to be sure to report any violations to police.
The officer wrote: “Torie then smiled and said she would. She thanked me and then drove south on Campbell Ave.” That same officer responded to her murder less than two hours later.
She picked up her son at the Boys & Girls Club sometime after 4 p.m.
The boy called 911 at 4:32 p.m. not knowing his mother was dead inside the Elm Street house.
‘Is my mom dead?’
The first officers to respond discovered Torie and Melvin Parrow both dead with bullet wounds to their heads. Melvin Parrow still had a gun in his hand.
As more officers arrived, they put crime tape up around the property. One officer noticed the boy standing in the driveway in the cold and rain. He invited the boy to sit in his patrol vehicle. The officer drove the vehicle around the corner to get out of view of the residence.
The officer asked the boy why he didn’t go in the house with his mother. “He stated that he was big enough to stay in the car,” the officer noted in his report.
The officer talked to the child about school and about his day. The boy wanted to know if his mom was OK.
The officer wrote in his report:
“During my time with (the boy) he asked me several times ‘is my mom dead? And ‘is my mom in heaven or hell?’”
Wrongful death suit filed against bond company, GPS monitoring company
Torie Parrow’s son, through his father, filed a wrongful death suit against the bail bond companies and GPS monitoring company: First Track GPS, LLC; A-Advanced Bail Bonds Inc.; Michael Nivens Bail Bonds; Michael D. Nivens; Terry Marshall; Brenda Marshall and Crystal Copeland are all named as defendants.
The suit alleges Melvin Parrow had prior felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon, burglary in the first degree, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance and that Melvin Parrow was on probation at the time of the assault on Oct. 24, 2018.
He was held on a $50,000 bond with the conditions that he have no contact with the victim, Torie Parrow, or her family; that he be placed on house arrest; and that he undergo 24/7 GPS monitoring.
When he was released from jail, Torie Parrow and/or her family reached out to the bond company and stated that Torie Parrow was terrified of Melvin Parrow and scared for her safety, the suit alleges. She and/or her family also told an employee of the bond company that Melvin Parrow had contacted her hundreds of times in violation of his bond conditions and that one of the messages indicated he was going to kill her, the suit alleges.
The suit alleges the defendants ignored Torie Parrow’s and her family’s pleas and failed to take any additional steps to protect her safety or control Melvin Parrow.
“Defendants failed to notify law enforcement that Melvin Parrow had tampered with and removed his GPS bracelet,” the suit alleges.
The case is scheduled for a jury trial in October.
‘Somebody needs to be held accountable’
Torie Parrow was cremated. May wears a locket with her sister’s picture and a bit of her ashes.
She also has Bluff, one of her sister’s dogs. Beast was taken to a new home.
“I don’t know where I’d be without my dog,” May said, nuzzling the friendly pitbull mix.
“There’s good days. There’s bad days. She wouldn’t want me to be sad,” May said of her sister. “I wake up every morning and put my best foot forward for her and my kids. Because she is not fortunate to be here and get out of bed and be the great mom she was.
“And I know she would be proud of me right now,” May said, wiping away tears. “That is what gets me through the hard days.”
In the end, she said, more could have been done to protect her sister.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable. But the bonding company? It’s not just the bonding company,” she continued. “Like the prosecutors, the detectives, when it happened, they all want to point the finger to this person, that person and the other person. And it’s all of them. That’s my opinion. It’s all of them. And unless you don’t come together and have some, like, plan of consistency and action, it’s going to remain the same.”
About Living in Fear
This special investigative report explores the far-reaching and insidious nature of domestic abuse in our community. Living in Fear is being presented in four parts over two months:
- Part I: Black eye for Greene County, which was published May 8-11, looks at the depth and breadth of the problem here.
- Part II: Obstacles to leaving, published May 22-25, examines the dynamics and complications facing victims looking to leave abusive relationships.
- Part III: Systemic issues, published this week, puts a focus on the criminal justice system and potential shortcomings.
- Part IV: Searching for solutions, to be published in late June, taps local, regional and national experts in search of ways to improve the system and reduce domestic violence.
Next in the Living in Fear series: In a system where victims fail to cooperate with prosecution up to 80 percent of the time, Malea Klusmeyer was unusual for her zealous involvement and her support of the criminal charges. But her abuser also was an unusual defendant with deep ties to Greene County government.
