“I feel like even though it’s a long time before he gets out of prison, we are still going to be protected.”
Content Warning: This story includes a first-person account of severe domestic violence.
Pearl (right) with her Pisgah Legal Attorney, Becca Eden.
Pearl is a survivor in every sense of the word. She is sharing her story now in hopes of helping others and preventing them from experiencing the extreme violence and abuse she endured.
For more than six weeks, Pearl’s husband kept her and their infant son captive while he abused drugs and beat her daily.
A “prepper,” he had stockpiled food, and they had little to no contact with the outside world. She wasn’t even allowed to take the baby outside for walks. Pearl’s car keys and phone were taken from her. He was convinced that she was being unfaithful to him with people he imagined living in the woods around their house. He also had multiple firearms at his disposal in the home.
For weeks, Pearl endured physical, emotional, and mental torture. She recalls, “He would tell me all the ways that he was going to kill me and how to get away with it. He liked to tell me all the details of how he was going to do it.”
On their son’s first birthday, he told Pearl that he had decided to blame her death on “the people in the woods.” He forced her to call 911 and report that there were people outside their home, laying the groundwork for his story. He didn’t count on police being dispatched immediately.
Pearl says, “Then he started panicking because at this point, I was black and blue head-to-toe and had bite marks and cuts so it would be obvious to police. He gave me a pair of pants to wear and a long-sleeved, button-up shirt. He made me button the collar all the way up and put on makeup to cover up the parts that were still showing, like my hands and face. When cops got there, I was still in the bathroom putting on makeup.” Pearl watched him hide a pistol in his pocket as he walked outside.
For 30 minutes, Pearl could hear him talking with the police, but they insisted they had to speak with the person who made the 911 call. He returned and told her exactly what she was to say to them. Thinking this would be her chance to escape, Pearl grabbed the baby and walked outside.
She was hoping the police would pick up on the fact that she was wearing heavy clothing even though it was summer and very hot.
“I was terrified,” she says. “He stood behind me and the baby the whole time with the gun in his pocket. I tried to act suspicious to clue them in.”
Pearl spoke with the police for five minutes, and then they left. She was devastated.
Hours later, Pearl began going into shock. The extensive injuries were taking their toll. She was having chest pain, and her heart rate was dangerously low. “Physically I could feel my body shutting down from the stress. I got really, really cold and couldn’t get warm. I was shaking, and he started yelling at me, ‘What’s wrong with you!’ I was convinced I was going to die.” Then, to her amazement, he offered to call an ambulance.
When it arrived, paramedics put her in the back of the ambulance and started examining her, but it remained parked in the driveway. “They could see all my visible injuries. They said, ‘It looks like somebody beat the hell out of you.’ I told them I fell down the stairs because I knew he was on the other side of the door listening.”
And Pearl couldn’t stop thinking that he was still in the house with the baby and the guns. Her child’s safety was her primary concern. The first responders contacted the Sheriff’s Office and Department of Social Services (DSS) since there was a child in the house. They arrived, and finally the ambulance left for the hospital.
Once Pearl learned that her child was safe in DSS custody, she told paramedics exactly what had happened. She was taken to the trauma wing of the hospital because her injuries were so severe.
Throughout the night, test after test confirmed the extent of her injuries, including six fractures in her nose, damage to her neck from being strangled and traumatic liver injury from the beatings. There were more than 200 marks and bruises on her body. She also found out that her abuser had been taken to jail. It wasn’t long before Pearl was reunited with her extended family and her child.
Pearl met the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) and an advocate from Helpmate to start criminal and civil proceedings against her abuser. Through Helpmate, she was referred to Pisgah Legal Services Attorney Becca Eden, who specializes in helping domestic violence survivors. Pearl says, “Becca explained that she worked hand-in-hand with the D.A.’s office.”
Becca represented Pearl in civil court: securing a protective order, getting a divorce and full custody of their child.
Pearl says, “I would not have been able to get the same outcome in civil court if I had to do it all by myself. I wouldn’t have known how to do it, and I don’t think I would have been able to deal with the emotional aspect of having direct contact with him. And I wouldn’t have been able to pay for an attorney.”
Becca also stayed by Pearl’s side during the criminal trial where Pearl’s abuser was found guilty of four felonies, including first-degree kidnapping, and other charges that sent him to prison.
Today Pearl is living with family and making a new life for herself. She is volunteering with Helpmate, speaking out about domestic violence and serving on a local task force that teaches and trains police officers how to spot and respond to domestic violence.
“It’s a pretty incredible feeling to know I have custody and that [my child] is safe. I was very relieved and very happy when I got the custody papers. Becca was really good and spent a lot of time working with me. She was really on top of it, and the judge gave me what I asked for. I feel like even though it’s a long time before he gets out of prison, we are still going to be protected.”