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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, June 29, 2019 5A
Above: Basketball camper Hudson dribbles his way through
an obstacle course. Right: Camp co-founder and director
Mike Simmel gives encouragement Friday to participants.
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Priscilla Kitchens watches as “Bounce Out The
Stigma” basketball camp participant Caleb makes his
way through a dribbling course Friday, June 28, at the
North Hall Community Center and Park gymnasium.
CAMP
■ Continued from 1A
same situation as me,” he
said.
He eventually went on to
spend 13 years with the Har
lem Wizards, an entertain
ment basketball team.
Simmel was inspired to
start Bounce Out the Stigma
after a conversation with his
father in 2005.
The Gainesville camp
is sponsored by Cantrell, a
local poultry and food pro
cessing equipment company.
Simmel said he appreci
ates the community’s support
from sponsors and volunteers.
Holloway said the end of
the five-day camp is bitter
sweet every year, as play
ers are recognized for their
achievements but don’t want
to say goodbye.
“On Fridays when we
have ceremonies, these kids
are crying because they’re
happy and they don’t want
to leave and they’re getting
awards,” she said. “They
hate to see the camp end.”
To get involved, go to
bounceoutthestigma.org or
find the program on social
media.
Above: Kaley has to dribble a basketball
with one hand while touching a series of
cones with the other Friday during the
“Bounce Out The Stigma” basketball
camp. The camp teaches special needs
youths coordination skills through the
creation and supporting of signature
programs promoting healthy lifestyle
choices. Left: Participants during the
camp for special needs youths learn to
dribble two basketballs at once.
CASTRO
■ Continued from 1A
hands, grabbed her and pulled
her hair,” Hall County Sher
iff’s Office spokesman Der-
reck Booth said Friday.
Hall County Solicitor Gen
eral Stephanie Woodard
said the biggest indicator a
domestic relationship can
end up deadly is choking/
strangulation.
“When the tension and the
violence in the relationship
has reached that level, that is
the highest lethality indicator
for our research,” she said.
Castro, 24, left the residence
with his son, Christian Castro
Jr.
Deputies spotted Castro’s
vehicle on the property of a
home adjacent to his on Pop
lar Springs Road.
“As deputies approached
the car on foot, Castro fired
several gunshots at them, but
no one was injured. Deputies
could see Castro’s son sitting
on his lap in the car,” Booth
wrote in a news release.
SWAT members discov
ered around 3:30 a.m. that Cas
tro had shot his son and then
turned the gun on himself.
Jennifer Thomas, outgoing
executive director for the
Georgia Commission on Fam
ily Violence, said details she
heard on the case are uncom
mon for murder-suicides.
“We have seen familicides,
where we would look at a case
where the perpetrator would
kill their partner, kill children
and kill themselves. But most
of our murder-suicides involve
the perpetrator killing the pri
mary victim and then them
selves,” she said.
Law enforcement has not
responded to that residence
for that couple before, accord
ing to officials.
Both bodies were taken to
the Georgia Bureau of Investi
gation crime lab.
This is the second fatal
shooting related to domestic
violence in less than a week.
Sabrina Banks Turner,
48, of Flowery Branch, was
charged with voluntary man
slaughter Saturday, June 22,
in the death of her live-in boy
friend, Everton Carter, 44, in
Flowery Branch.
“It is a rare day that an
officer in any jurisdiction
works an entire shift without
responding to a domestic-
related call, many of which
involve some form of physi
cal violence. This is why the
partnerships we share with
agencies and organizations
that work to combat domestic
violence are critical. We want
to emphasize that there is hope
for those who find themselves
in domestic violence relation
ships, as we have resources
available that can be of assis
tance to victims to help them
safely escape the situation,
and hopefully avoid a tragedy
similar to what we’ve seen
today,” Sheriff Gerald Couch
said in a statement Thursday.
When discussing the topic
of domestic violence with
someone who may be experi
encing it, Thomas said a more
effective question is if the
“the world feels smaller than
it did prior to your partner’s
behaviors.”
“If you think about it
from this context of are you
restricted from seeing fam
ily and friends? Are you
restricted from having a car?
We think about your world get
ting smaller, that you’re reliant
and have become dependent
on that individual because
they’ve created the situation
for it to occur,” Thomas said.
To Thomas, murder-suicide
is a “double dose” of undis
cussed issues in society: sui
cide and family violence.
“The more we can talk
about it and the more we can
feel safe to have conversations
about it at our workplace, in
our faith communities, then
people will feel more open
to come and disclose when
they are not feeling safe and
secure,” she said.
The time a person expe
riencing domestic violence
begins to leave is the most dan
gerous time, and Thomas said
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that elevated risk can last up to
two years after leaving.
“It is important for those
individuals (experiencing
domestic violence) to know
that they deserve a better life,
that their kids deserve a bet
ter life and there is a pathway
safety by connecting with the
helpful advocates in your com
munity,” Thomas said.
Thomas offered the 24/7
domestic violence hotline
1-800-334-2836 for anyone
experiencing domestic vio
lence or any person close to
someone experiencing it. In
the Gainesville area, the Gate
way Domestic Violence Cen
ter hotline is 770-536-5860.
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