A young mother who identified herself as Niomi Williams has taken to social media with a desperate plea for help, detailing what she says was one-and-a-half years of emotional, mental, physical and financial abuse at the hands of her ex-partner.
“Some might say that I don’t fit the mold of a victim of domestic violence abuse But I am here to tell you that Domestic Abuse does not discriminate. It CAN and DOES affect all walks of life,” Williams wrote, describing how she became “a master at masking the hell I was living in and created a double life.” According to her post, she was completely isolated, broken and defeated, and feared telling anyone what was happening because she had “no communication with any one close and no friends.”
Williams said she endured control over her physical appearance, where she went, who she spoke to and “even my thoughts,” and that her spirit was broken to the point that she gave up her own dreams and aspirations. She recounted attempts to leave without possessions or shelter, describing the experience of homelessness and “HOPELESSNESS” while worrying about the safety of her daughter and son.
In a harrowing turn, Williams says she returned to an apartment one night for clothes and was attacked; she fled to the nearest police station, but alleges she was arrested after her ex falsely claimed he was the victim. She says she was released later.
In a separate Facebook video, Williams, who gave her cell number as 748-6948, recorded scenes she said showed her partner destroying property, including an electric scooter, and setting items on fire. In that video she cries for help, saying: “Tag somebody, anybody, all my phone he destroy, he know people. I deh on the west side, i living in constant torment. I run from abuse for five years and end up back in the hands of abuser. I cant go on the street with them (her children) and i dont know anybody, nonbody is willing to help me. Im tired, i dont want to die.”
The woman’s post details the daily trauma she says she faced and the moment she decided she had to leave to protect her children: “It takes a lot of courage to face your fears and accept where you are, especially when you’re experiencing trauma on an almost daily basis. I had to decide whether to leave and live, or to stay and succumb to the consequences.”
Williams said she tried to leave but had nowhere to go and no resources to care for her children. “Without a plan and uncertain where we would spend the night, I experienced what homelessness and HOPELESSNESS felt like. I felt a profound sense of defeat. I thought I had failed my kids,” she wrote.
In the most anguished part of her video plea, Williams repeated a chilling line: “I don’t want go in no casket. I’m living in torment with this man. This man burning up my clothes, he destroying my things, I have nowhere to go. I ain’t know where to go with my children then. Nobody understand what I’m going through, I don’t want to be in a casket. I don’t want to be in a casket, y’all help me, I begging y’all help me please, I want come out.”
Her posts say she is reaching out for intervention “before it’s too late,” describing the messages as “my only form of seeking help.”
