KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Dylan Thebo was a little boy who loved Paw Patrol. When he was three years old, he was shot and killed by his father, Derek, who then turned the gun on himself.
In this case, proven through a Kent County Domestic Violence Homicide Review, we learned in March 2022— months after Dylan died— about steps missing in the justice system to prevent, assess, and track domestic abusers.
That's where the Kent County Domestic Violence Court hopes to close the gap and spark changes for children like Dylan and their families.
The court is a long time coming. It's the work of the Kent County Domestic Violence Taskforce, which Prosecutor Chris Becker sits on.
"It gives intensive probation for offenders to try to change their behavior, but it also give support to the victims," Becker said.
Newly funded thanks to the bestowal of American Rescue plan money by the Kent County Commission, the court will add four specific victim's advocates, to make sure domestic abusers are seeing the same judge throughout the entirety of their case and, also, to make things like childcare more accessible.
In Dylan Thebo's case, his mother did everything could to help save her son, reporting her ex-husband's abuse and threats to six different entities.
Ultimately, Dylan was killed by his father when Derek had custody as part of their visitation agreement. Derek also got a legally obtained firearm and a no-contact order in place.
Adding teeth to no-contact orders is key, Prosecutor Becker says.
"We're going to have more enhanced supervision on that no-contact order, to make sure, if they're violating that order, they're going to be held accountable. And, having help for the victim, to have somebody to say, hey, we're here to help out if someone's violating that no-contact order— and something's going to happen," said Prosecutor Becker. "I think that's the biggest thing right now. Nothing happens, and I'm just putting myself at greater risk for reporting a no-contact order. Hopefully, we'll be able to build that same relationship."
The same judge will oversee each family's individual case. And, it'll likely be two judges who are part of the program, one in Kentwood District Court and one in the District Court located downtown, who over see cases of 2nd and 3rd time domestic abuse offenders.
Also, looking into risk indicators, known as "lethality factors" is a priority for the newly funded court, because doing so can just maybe save lives.
Derek Thebo had 11 "lethality factors," according to a review of the homicide. His wife told officials multiple times her fears about Derek's instability in holding down a job and his threatening remarks.
Prosecutor Becker hopes by doing something to address the system's cracks, more families can get the help they need.
"To that greater accountability, and identify the behavior," he said. "And on the flip side with victims, to have them a support system to get them the resources they need."
The Prosecutor's Office says this will have a direct impact on everyone in Kent County next year and ideally for years to come- if they can secure state and federal grant funds, saying this is one way to address the increasing number of domestic violence homicides, which have been steadily going up since 2017.
