State senator agrees system failed woman whose husband killed her

WEST FINLEY TOWNSHIP — Pennsylvania state Sen. Carmen Bartolotta is outraged by the case of Tierne Ewing, who police said was shot and killed by her estranged husband.

Bartolotta told Channel 11 something must change.

“Did the system fail Ms. Ewing? Obviously, the system failed her,” she said. “I’m in no way criticizing judges. They did the best with the evidence that was presented at the time. We need to find out how the system failed.”

Investigators said Kevin Ewing removed his electronic monitoring bracelet, kidnapped his estranged wife and then shot her in the head in a Washington County barn. He then turned the gun on himself.

The district attorney’s office continues to investigate what happened with the ankle bracelet’s monitoring system.

“You go to Macy’s and a shoplifter tries to take a pair of pants. There’s an alarm that goes off if you try to cut it,” Bartolotta said. “We protect our pants better than we protect some domestic violence victims, and that's got to change.”

Bartolotta said after this incident, domestic violence victims still must know they have help.

“They have to understand you must speak out immediately, and pursue resources that are out there,” she said.

One resource available is Lisa Hannum, with Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Hannum said their job as advocates is to empower the victims, and work to get them out of their situation.

• RESOURCES: Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern PA

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