Opinion: New state law provides lifesaving step for domestic violence prevention
By Luis Montgomery, public policy and compliance specialist with the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Note: The Mississippi Independent welcomes submissions of opinion pieces from a variety of perspectives that are fact-based, drawn from personal experience or expertise, and do not promote a political party or candidate.
Too often in Mississippi, domestic violence ends not just in trauma, but in tragedy.
During the recent legislative session, state lawmakers took action to avert those kinds of tragedies, passing a long-overdue measure known as the Mississippi Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team Act (SB 2886), which establishes a statewide review team to study domestic violence-related deaths.
The law equips the team with the necessary tools to gain insight and collaborate with other entities to save lives and support Mississippians who have long lived in silence and fear.
The devastating case of Carlos Collins, a 25-year-old nurse from Yazoo City, illustrates the need for such a measure. In April 2024, Collins was brutally murdered — shot and struck with a blunt object — in his own apartment. His ex-boyfriend, Marcus Johnson, a former Jackson police officer, was arrested following a pursuit into Louisiana. Despite Collins’s having filed a restraining order and repeatedly reported stalking incidents, his pleas for protection had gone unheeded.
Under SB 2886, a case like Carlos Collins’ would have been subject to a thorough, multidisciplinary fatality review. The team would have reviewed the Jackson Police Department’s response — or lack thereof — and asked what policies failed, what warning signs were missed and what opportunities for intervention may have been ignored.
The review would not have stopped at law enforcement; it would have assessed all systems and service providers involved — advocacy programs, mental health services, the courts — to identify where breakdowns occurred.
Now, all of those mechanisms are in place.
The review team’s mission is to closely examine the circumstances surrounding domestic violence fatalities to identify systemic failures, gaps in services and missed intervention opportunities. Equipped with data and real case studies, Mississippi will finally be able to craft proactive policies grounded in lived experience, not just reactive headlines.
The positive ripple effects of this bill will be felt far and wide. Survivors and victims' families will finally see acknowledgment of their experiences and pain. The team’s findings will help shape better laws, improve safety planning, enhance training for first responders, and guide resource allocation for shelters and community programs. Service providers will benefit from actionable insights that improve how we intervene—and prevent—domestic violence.
This victory did not happen by chance. As a public policy specialist deeply committed to ending domestic violence, I was proud to be at the table from the start — researching national best practices, helping draft the bill’s language, collaborating with legislative allies, and guiding strategy through every step of the process. This was a community-driven effort fueled by stories, data and unwavering advocacy. Survivors’ voices were central, and our coalition ensured that every section of the bill was designed with accountability, sensitivity and impact in mind.
SB 2886 is not the end of the road — it’s the beginning of a new era for how Mississippi addresses domestic violence. With this law, we are sending a message that lives lost to domestic violence will no longer be ignored or misunderstood. We are building a future where intervention is timely, prevention is possible, and no victim is left behind.
Image: Logo of Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, from its website