Tina Lynn Stewart
7/28/1987-11/24/2017
Tina's Law Petition
Every holiday season, the occurrence of domestic violence situations rises. The story we are going to talk about today is one of those cases.
On November 24, 2017, 30-year-old Tina Stewart was violently beaten to death by her boyfriend of 2 years. The attack was so vicious he had compound fractures to (both) his hand(s). Her murderer would go on to get a SHOCKING sentence from the court.
Tina was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 28, 1987.
And moved to Washington. Her parents say she was a super daughter, a super Tina who always turned her Mom's day around. She was vivacious and loving. Tina attended Lewis and Clark Highschool and Spokane Community College in Spokane. She went to school for Early Childhood Education and worked as a Daycare teacher. Her dream was to work at Children's Garden Daycare. Although never married, she had two wonderful children with a boy she had known since she was a bubbly 11-year-old. She adored her children and worked 2 jobs to provide for them. Her life and her hobbies all revolved around kids.
She was a Christian who showed love to anyone. Sometimes she would get off work after a long day and rush home to make PBJ sandwiches just to go pass out to the homeless. She was a kind person who touched many lives. Her family called her "Tina the tiny tornado, an (altruistic) ball of energy who didn't take anything from anyone."
Tina was going to be busy during the holiday season of Thanksgiving 2017. The day before the holiday, her family celebrated together. The following day she and her boyfriend went to Newman lake to spend the day with his father. Celebrations with her family went well, and they would later recall that it was one of their family's best Thanksgiving celebrations. The festivities had a different feel when the couple got to Newman Lake. Apparently, the two got really drunk, and Tina's boyfriend's Dad insisted they stay the night at his house rather than drive so intoxicated. They agreed, and the Dad went to bed around 11pm. Sometime after he went to bed, the couple started arguing. The fight got physical upstairs, but the two had moved through the entire house, all three levels, including the basement. His Dad recalls hearing noises throughout the night but couldn't tell what was happening.
Tina's boyfriend would later recount that during the argument, he shoved Tina causing her to fall, punched her in the face, and kicked her so bad that she was vomiting and bleeding out of her mouth. He said that at some point during the assault, the two "eventually calmed down" and passed out on the basement floor.
When first responders got to 100lb Tina her face and body were covered in bruises and scratches. She had apparent injuries, swollen cheeks, severe bruising on her chest and stomach, and abrasions on her torso consistent with being dragged across a rough surface like cement in the basement.
They asked him, "what happened, and if he had found her like this?" He said, "no, we got into it last night, and it was bad." He told them that he woke up a few times after passing out on the concrete basement floor. The first two times, the first around 4am, the second around 6am. Both times he woke up, Tina was unresponsive and had vomit and blood coming out of her mouth. He wiped her face, cleaned it up, and went back to sleep. While the third time, he woke up around 8am and panicked. He called his Mom, who advised him to call 911. When he called, he reported a woman with unknown medical issues. When they arrived, they attempted life-saving measures for Tina but were unsuccessful. They found her boyfriend with compound fractures on his hand(s) and had injuries consistent with committing an assault.
He was arrested and eventually sentenced to a whopping 16 years, a whole 195 months for second-degree murder. Like WTF is happening in Washington? Tina's family is furious with this sentence and feels failed by the system. Some of them stormed out of the courtroom after hearing his sentence. They miss her every day, and life hasn't been easy for them since her passing. One way they want to honor her is by passing Tina's Law. The law would require domestic violence offenders to be put on a national violent offenders registry. Her family drafted and created the proposal, worked tirelessly to spread awareness, and lobbied the bill to Congress. But the bill wasn't passed.
How can we help them pass it? I want to help them get this law passed. It won't be a perfect system, but it might save a few lives, and that's the whole point.
Tina is remembered as a beautiful, kind, hard-working person with a profound love for her children, who will go on to impact many lives.
Change.org
Tina's Law Petition
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