The life in prison without parole sentence of Rick Allen Headley received Tuesday for the stabbing attack of his estranged wife, Kirstie Headley, has once again opened a discussion in the Mountain Home community pointing to domestic violence not just happening behind closed doors. In this case, the couple’s long simmering dispute erupted at a Mountain Home retailer where Kirstie Headley was working on the evening of March 13, 2018.According to the probable cause affidavit, Rick Headley grabbed his estranged wife by the shirt and dragged her outside the store. Video surveillance cameras show him with a knife in his right hand. Witnesses told investigators they saw Rick Headley stab his estranged wife several times.The cameras at the store also captured scenes of Kirstie Headley walking back into the building holding her chest. She was reported to be covered with blood. Emergency medical personnel arrived and transported her to Baxter Regional Medical Center where she died a short time later.The assault occurred despite the fact Rick Headley was in violation of a protective order taken out by Kirstie Headley prior to her death.
Photo: Three family members of Kirstie Dawn Headley display purple domestic violence ribbons following the Mountain Home woman’s death in 2018. Serenity Inc., Mountain Home’s shelter and outreach service for domestic violence victims, honored Kirstie Dawn Headley one year after her death with the City of Mountain Home and Baxter County declaring the anniversary date as Domestic Violence Awareness Day.
Protective orders like the one Kirstie Headley had are not a protective bubble. That is the message Serenity’s Executive Director Donna Forrester says is given to clients at the Mountain Home domestic violence shelter.
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Forrester says protective orders are just part of the discussion Serenity’s staff has with clients both at the shelter and those living elsewhere in the community seeking the services offered through the domestic violence shelter.
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In the five years since Serenity moved into a new shelter facility and adopted the new concept of disclosing its location at 1015 U.S. Highway 62B in Mountain Home, Forrester says the number of clients has doubled. But recently she’s noticed a change.
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But once the victims of domestic violence are working with Serenity, Forrester says they are seeing positive changes in many cases.
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For more information about the educational support and shelter offered through Serenity, call 870-424-7576.
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