Deadly domestic violence cases in Louisiana and Virginia have reignited debate about what prevention resources and mental health care should be available to Black communities, and how uneven access can shape who reaches help in time. The killings drew national attention, and advocates said they reflect broader patterns in intimate partner violence and in the availability of services that can interrupt abuse.
In Shreveport, Louisiana, police identified Shamar Elkins as the man who fatally shot seven of his children and another child on Sunday morning, according to accounts in the aftermath of the attack. A relative of Elkins’ wife said he was separating from his wife and that she was wounded in the attack, authorities and family said.
In Virginia, police found former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and his estranged wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, dead in their suburban Washington, D.C., area home last Thursday, according to police. Police said Justin Fairfax shot his estranged wife and then himself, and that their two children in the home at the time were unhurt.
The two cases did not share an immediately clear cause in either location, and experts said they nonetheless resemble patterns that play out in homes across the country. They also linked the tragedies to what they described as disparities in access to care and resources that can increase vulnerability to violence, especially for Black women.
A Shreveport Councilman, Grayson Boucher, said at a news conference Monday that the Louisiana killings were emblematic of “a true epidemic of domestic violence” in the small southern city of roughly 180,000 people. Advocates also emphasized how earlier exposure to gender-based gun violence has affected Elkins’ family. Lionel Pugh, an uncle, said Elkins and his sister were under age 10 when they lost their mother to gun violence, and he said other family members were also injured or killed during earlier incidents, according to authorities and family.
Pamela Tate, executive director of Black Women Revolt, said institutional skepticism shaped by a history of racism makes some Black women reluctant to seek help, leaving them more vulnerable to domestic violence. Tate also argued that domestic violence is tied to power and control rather than to race, saying, “Domestic violence doesn’t see color,” and that it is driven by a belief held by men across demographics that women are subjects or property. Tate added: “Domestic violence is about exerting power over someone that you profess to love and controlling their behavior.”
The same advocates and clinicians described how gun access can determine outcomes in domestic abuse cases. They also pointed to a lack of resources for mental health support and the difficulties of sustaining treatment when costs and insurance barriers limit options. In the Shreveport case, a relative of Elkins’ wife told The Associated Press that Elkins had voluntarily checked into a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in January for about a week and a half for mental health help, according to the report.
In Virginia, court documents described Fairfax’s mental and emotional health as suffering before he killed his wife and himself, and said he drank heavily and withdrew from his family after two women accused him of sexual assault in 2019. Dr. Christine Crawford, an adult and child psychiatrist who said she had not examined the killings in Shreveport or Annandale, told the AP that financial troubles, marital issues, and problems at work—along with underlying mental health vulnerabilities—can lead someone to “crack.” She said the situation can prompt thoughts about pain, distress, and hopelessness, and warned that many people, including Black people, can be priced out of programs and care due to private costs and a lack of insurance.
Daphne C. Watkins, a University of Michigan social work professor and founder of the YBMen Project, said mental health disparities in the Black community are not accidental and called them the predictable outcome of “structural racism” in schools, employment, and other aspects of society. She said studies show that 10% of Black adults experience moderate to severe depression and that 18% experience anxiety disorders, and she said cultural expectations and costs can lead Black men to forego mental health treatment. Watkins said, “For a long time, in the Black community, we didn’t talk about anxiety,” adding that people now need to discuss it alongside depression.
Other voices in the debate emphasized that mental health challenges are not an excuse for domestic violence. Tate said the focus should remain on the violence itself, saying, “To say they’re mentally ill, that doesn’t cut it,” and adding that people who experience depression or schizophrenia do not necessarily harm their partners. Tate also said people in domestic violence situations have access to escape and choices that can be decisive, noting that both Shaneiqua Elkins and Cerina Fairfax “had the same access or ability to go and purchase a gun” but chose not to.