“Knowing what she went through the last moments of her life. It’s just something, it plays over and over in your mind and you never get used to it,” said John Salter, Tiffany’s father.
A jury convicted Goff of murder this past April. That same month, a bill passed making strangulation a felony. Before, it was just a misdemeanor, but now it’s aggravated assault, and could mean a 20 year sentence.
“I just cried because for me that’s Tiffany’s law,” Karen Salter said.
She hopes it will save lives. Stats show strangulation is the most common form of domestic violence. It takes the same amount of force as a handshake for someone to pass out and in four minutes, they’ll be dead.
In Georgia, 44 percent of domestic violence victims have been strangled. Last year, out of the 2,000 clients Safe Homes Augusta helped, 40 percent were strangulation victims.
“The abuser at that moment and choose to intimidate her by saying I’m going to kill you, or I have total control to kill you,” said Aimee Hall, executive director of Safe Homes Augusta.
Since the new law, Safe Homes Augusta wants to make sure law enforcement documents strangulation, especially 911 dispatchers.
“Then the 911 operators can ask. Did he put his hands on you? Where did he put his hands on you then they can go ahead and dispatch that information to the police,” Hall said.
“Do something. Do something. You don’t want to be where I’m sitting right now,” John Salter said.
Georgia ranks 12th in the nation for women killed by men. South Carolina is number one.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, you can call the Augusta Safe Homes crisis hotline at 706-736-2499
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