More than a year after his 21-year-old daughter was murdered by her boyfriend, Ellicott City resident Bill Mitchell still gets choked up.
“Going back to the night that I got the word that Kristin was dead, I remember thinking, ?A whole lot of good would have to come out of something so horrible,? ” Mitchell said Tuesday between tears.
A 2001 graduate of Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Kristin Mitchell had just graduated from St. Joseph?s University in Philadelphia, when her 28-year-old boyfriend Brian David Landau stabbed her 55 times after she attempted to break up with him June 3, 2005, in Montgomery County, Pa.
In her memory, friends and family have created a charity called Kristin?s Krusade to help victims of domestic violence.
“I don?t have any more daughters,” Bill Mitchell said. “I?ve been thinking, ?What can I do to take the emotion of this whole thing and turn it into something that can help somebody else?? ”
The charity?s mission is to raise awareness of the “dangers and warning signs of unhealthy relationships” and to promote “self-esteem and confidence in today?s young college women,” according to its Web site.
Two of Kristin?s friends from Pennsylvania, Lauren Teevan and Stephanie Grobber, started the charity, Bill Mitchell said.
He said the group hopes to teach young women about the dangers of possessive and controlling men.
“Constant text messaging and constant questions about, ?Where are you going?? ?What are you doing?? ?Why are you going there?? are warning signs,” Mitchell said.
Young women also should know if they intend to break up with a boyfriend, they should do it in a safe place, he said.
“When it comes down to breaking up, you might want to give a call on a Friday night and then get out of town,” Mitchell said. “Or you might want to do it in a public place.”
Kristin?s Krusade
» For more information about Kristin?s Krusade, visit www.kristinskrusade.com.
» Kristin?s Krusade will host a 5-kilometer run and walk Sept. 17 on the campus of St. Joseph?s University in Pennsylvania, to raise money for victims of domestic violence.
