HAMILTON, Ohio — The Butler County prosecutor said he was "compelled to set the record straight" after a social post accused several of his office's victim advocates of ignoring a Hamilton mother's domestic abuse, an alleged indifference the post said ultimately led to her shooting death.
Prosecutor Mike Gmoser held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to shut down the claims. He invited the post's author — Michelle Christina, the aunt of the 19-year-old Danielle Lovins who died in a Dayton hospital on February 16 from a gunshot wound — to attend. She did, along with other members of Lovins' family.
In her post, Christina called out three specific victim advocates.
"These (are) the women advocating for these domestic violence cases in (the) city of Hamilton," she wrote in part. "Which one (of you) failed my niece? Which one (of you) decided not to do (your) job? Which one (of you) didn't reach out and have a conversation and really feel this situation was safe?"
Lovins' case is still pending. While the preliminary police report suggested her gunshot wound may have been self-inflicted, the Montgomery County Coroner's Office released an initial report indicating the manner and cause of Lovins' death was undetermined and a representative said a full autopsy report could take two months to be released.
Despite Lovins' family's insistence the 19-year-old mother did not turn a gun on herself, there is no official confirmation yet to suggest otherwise.
Gmoser said that means there is no criminal case on his desk yet, and the investigation is currently out of his hands.
"There will be a timeline of some sort. I assure you of that. This particular matter did come to my attention, not as a case in front of my office and my staff, but only to alert me that there was a death that is being investigated and will be pursued through the forensic materials that are available and other methods of investigation," Gmoser said. "At the appropriate time, I would receive the information to make it something before me. That obviously has not happened yet. When it does, I'll move forward, as I always do, as you well know."
Any previous domestic cases involving Lovins would have been filed in Hamilton and thus handled by the city prosecutor, Gmoser said.
"It is not my purpose here to excoriate (Christina) for the misguided and misstated facts. Generally, the public is entitled to their own opinions. That's the way it works in this country," he said. "But as it has often been said, people are not entitled to their own facts, and in this particular situation, the fact is that my victims advocates had nothing whatsoever to do with a particular court case that was not a court case that my office was in any way involved in."
Lovins' family spoke with WCPO after the press conference to share their thoughts on the Gmoser's words. Christina said while she apologizes for any misunderstandings or undue blame, she stands by her message.
"All advocates everywhere. It doesn't matter — county, city — I was reaching out to all advocates. Your jobs, your responsibilities. You did not reach all the responsibilities for Danielle," she said.
Lovins' father, Dan, said he and his family are frustrated and want justice. They're also still grieving, having just held a funeral for Lovins, who leaves behind a 6-month-old son.
"Everyone's looking for answers and whether we're saying it the wrong way or being too loud with the wrong people it needs to be loud," said Dan. "It needs to be heard. It needs to be spoken about. Her justice and her light needs to come through on the other end of this."
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