By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune staff reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A 25-year-old woman says police are not taking her domestic violence complaint seriously after her ex-boyfriend allegedly body slammed her, punched her in the face, and fractured bones in her face, all in front of her child.

Ashenique Lewis said she had been in a two-year relationship with the man. Speaking to The Tribune, Ms Lewis said it was difficult to talk due to three fractured facial bones from the alleged attack.

She claimed the abuse started as verbal insults and escalated to being slapped while pregnant. She admitted to downplaying the abuse in the past, thinking it wasn’t “the worst of the worst”.

The mother-of-two said her ex-boyfriend nearly killed her on July 10 in front of her four-year-old son, a child from a previous relationship who also lived in the home. 

Ms Lewis said another argument erupted while she was tutoring her older son. She recalled asking him not to curse in front of the child, saying it was not a healthy environment. He allegedly began demanding her car keys to retrieve his carpentry tools. A struggle over her purse followed.

She recalled him shaking her and saying: “Hit me so I could do what I want to do to you.”

She said that after she pushed him, he punched her in the face. Although he had hit her before, she said this time the pain was unbearable. The blow brought her to tears as her son cried in fear.

When her ex-boyfriend began walking out, she said she struck him, and the fight continued outside. She alleged he choked her on top of her car and body slammed her onto the driveway, knocking her unconscious.

“He lifted me off the ground, carried me in the room, threw me on the bed. As he passed my son, he said, ‘Your mummy on some dumb s**t,’” she said.

She tried to drive to her ex-boyfriend’s mother’s house for help, but said he chased the car, forcing her to flee on foot.

Ms Lewis said she had told both her family and the man’s mother about the abuse, but no one took it seriously. It was only after she showed her family the injuries to her face that they began to believe her.

“No one is willing to help,” she said emotionally. “Everyone got their big house, but you tell them you’re in a life or death situation.”

Ms Lewis said domestic abuse has been normalised in both her family and her ex-boyfriend’s family. Still, she said she hopes to break that cycle for her children.

Hours after the alleged attack, she filed a complaint at the Nassau Street Police Station and pressed charges. She then went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with three fractured facial bones, nerve damage to her eye, a damaged tooth, and injuries that may require facial surgery.

When asked if she was satisfied with the police response, she said, “No.” She acknowledged the officers were polite but felt their approach to finding her attacker was too relaxed.

She claimed she informed police there was surveillance footage from a friend’s home showing her attacker at a specific location, but said officers still did not check the area.

“They need to take it serious and stop beating women with the same stick,” Ms Lewis said. “Do your part still so you can say you did not fail this person.”

Ms Lewis also revealed she was friends with Heavenly Terveus, a 21-year-old woman shot and killed by her boyfriend in front of her newborn son in January 2022. She said she couldn’t stop thinking about what Ms Terveus went through and knew she had to make a change.

She also criticised mothers who protect abusive sons.

“Let your son take the consequences of his actions. Stop trying to cover for these men. You are a woman before a mother. Think about how it would make you feel if you had a daughter,” she said.

Police did not respond to repeated calls, up to press time.