Mother describes dead daughter’s marriage to ex-firefighter in Broward as abusive
Tags: Broward CountyOpens in new window, Coral SpringsOpens in new window, CrimeOpens in new window, Domestic ViolenceOpens in new window
Ex-Davie firefighter facing misdemeanor battery charge after wife’s death: ‘My life is over — no matter what happens’
Default Mono Sans Mono Serif Sans Serif Comic Fancy Small CapsDefault X-Small Small Medium Large X-Large XX-LargeDefault Outline Dark Outline Light Outline Dark Bold Outline Light Bold Shadow Dark Shadow Light Shadow Dark Bold Shadow Light BoldDefault Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%Default Black Silver Gray White Maroon Red Purple Fuchsia Green Lime Olive Yellow Navy Blue Teal Aqua OrangeDefault 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%Grieving mother says nurse’s marriage to ex-firefighter accused of domestic abuse was troubling
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — A 74-year-old grieving mother described her 43-year-old son-in-law as controlling and his relationship with her 38-year-old daughter before her death in Coral Springs as abusive.
Jeffrey E. Evans, II, a former Davie Fire Rescue Department lieutenant, walked out of jail on Friday. He faced a misdemeanor charge. Jessica Lloyd, a nurse he had wed last year, died on Monday — after a neighbor reported hearing her scream, “My husband is trying to kill me!”
Rita Lloyd said she and her family were concerned before they learned that police officers found her dead, face down, in a canal near their home at 9901 NW 15 Court.
“We had a beautiful daughter who was alive and well. We lost contact with her. She was very isolated, not allowed to work,” Rita Lloyd said.
Evans, who was born in Fort Lauderdale and stopped working for DFRD on Feb. 28, was talkative with Coral Springs police officers and with reporters after he walked out of jail in Pompano Beach.
According to the police report, Evans said they had gotten into an argument over infidelity, she fell while they wrestled over a laptop — and she screamed when he was restraining her.
A police officer wrote that Evans said he saw his wife “running from in between two houses … screaming for help” before she “fell in the middle of the street” and was yelling, “Help! He is going to kill me!”
Evans said he decided to “stop chasing” her and ran back to the house to call 911 for help, according to the police report. Records show he called shortly after 8:50 p.m. to report Lloyd was experiencing a “mental break.”
About six minutes later, a 911 caller reported hearing a woman screaming in the neighborhood that her husband wanted to kill her, according to a police report.
“She wouldn’t be screaming out like that if something wasn’t happening to her,” Rita Lloyd said.
Evans reported his wife had vanished. After pulling her out of the water, Jessica Lloyd was pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m., police said.
Police officers decided to arrest Evans for the domestic violence before the death, so he faced a charge of battery, touch, or strike, a first-degree misdemeanor.
“I can’t comment on ongoing investigations. I’m sure any lawyer in the world would kill me if they knew that I said anything. The only thing I want to say is I love my wife,” Evans said after walking out of jail.
When asked if he knew how Lloyd ended up in the water, Evans said, “Can I please not speculate on things that I don’t know about?”
On the suspicions that his wife was a murder victim, Evans said, “It’s not what happened, it’s not the truth … Let’s wait for things to unfold, please. My life is over — no matter what happens.”
Rita Lloyd isn’t so convinced and said, “My daughter didn’t end up in a canal by herself.”
Court records show two different women had accused Evans of domestic violence before in Broward County. An ex-wife accused him in 2018 before their divorce, records show.
Prosecutors filed a first-degree misdemeanor battery case after a CSPD officer arrested Evans in 2020 at the same house. He was working for DFRD then. The arrest report identifies Evans as his girlfriend and cites photos of her injuries.
“I observed a white female storm out of the front door of the residence screaming for help,” a police officer wrote, adding that he saw Evans chasing her, and the victim reported that he had punched her in the face and hit her in the back of the head, according to the July 3, 2020, arrest report.
According to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office on Friday, the 2020 case was dropped since there weren’t “independent witnesses” and the victim “submitted a waiver of prosecution and an affidavit stating that the suspect did not punch or strike her.”
Court records on Evans also show a Broward judge issued a temporary injunction for domestic violence on Dec. 17, 2020, and the case was dismissed on Jan. 20, 2021.
Broward County Circuit Judge Chris Brown was set to preside over the new pending domestic violence misdemeanor case.
“I know what people think. I know what people think of me,” Evans said while wearing an ankle GPS monitor outside of jail.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 to remain anonymous.
At least 95 women were killed by men known to police over the course of five years
- Domestic Violence
- Crime and Courts
- Wednesday 11 June 2025 at 7:58am
ITV News Calendar reporter Amelia Beckett has been investigating dozens of murders of women killed by men that were known to police.
An ITV News investigation has found that at least 95 women were killed by men known to police over the course of five years.
In 20 of those cases police failings were identified, while at least 14 cases are still under review.
In response to the findings the Safeguarding Minister told ITV News she is “relatively confident” that in five years’ time the government will have reduced that number.
Jess Phillips said: “Everything will have been done to seek to reduce that number and there is no shortage of will here at the Home Office and in this government.
“So, yes, I feel relatively confident that in five years time we will reduce the incidences of violence and in that we will reduce the incidences of fatal violence.”
Of the 95 cases ITV News analysed from 2019 to 2023, the majority of men were previously known to police as perpetrators of domestic abuse.
One of those was Daniel Patten.
He stabbed his ex-partner Regan Tierney to death in her home in Manchester as their children slept in the room next door. He then killed himself.
The mother of two had repeatedly contacted police for help, after years of domestic abuse.
Eight days before she was murdered, police visited her after Patten had threatened to “put her head on a spike”, but their domestic violence risk assessment was left incomplete and in parts incorrect.
An inquest in July found Regan had received insufficient support and protection from agencies and that there were missed opportunities to help her. The inquest concluded it was possible that this additional support and protection could have saved her life.
Her sister Shannon Tierney and brother-in-law Alan Shaw were two of the first on the scene after Regan’s murder.
Shannon’s grandfather received a call from Daniel saying: “You need to get the kids. I’ve killed Regan.”
“We had to go and wake our daughter up. And we got her into a taxi. And as soon as we got there, I just knew.
“I just jumped out of the taxi, sprinted over. And one of the officers, I’ll never forget this, he grabbed me and pushed me backwards. And I said, ‘I told you this was going to happen.'”
Shannon had known for years that Daniel had been abusive and controlling. In 2009, Patten attempted to strangle Regan. The following year, he smashed a window at their home in a temper. In 2012, he broke her nose at a friend’s house, and was later convicted.
Five years on, a domestic abuse referral form was sent following another episode of abuse. In 2018 and 2019, he made multiple threats to kill Regan and members of her family. In April 2019, Regan finally asked Patten to leave and the following month, she met a new partner.
However, when a partner leaves an abusive relationship the risk to them can increase if the perpetrator feels a loss of control.
While Regan changed the locks to her house she failed to change the lock on the garage door. Patten took a key, broke in and stabbed her to death.
Shannon and Alan say they partially blame the police for what happened.
“There’s no trust, there’s no faith”, they said.
“They’re a public service, they’re meant to protect Regan and they didn’t.”
Dad kills ex-partner before taking own life in tragic murder suicide
Explainer
Daughter spoke to police five times before she and her mum were murdered
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has been working with academics since 2020 to study every domestic homicide and suicide following domestic abuse in England and Wales.
Last year it found 68% of victims and/or perpetrators of domestic homicides were known to an agency, while 54% were known to police.
They say this highlights the importance of a prompt, robust police response from the outset of a report.
But in 20 cases we analysed, police failings have been identified.
In one case, a victim made a number of allegations that the perpetrator had sexually assaulted her, stalked and harassed her and left the children alone in the flat so he could follow her.
Despite this, the officers decided not to arrest him. The following day he killed her.
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In another case, officers failed to recognise coercive and controlling behaviour, which became an offence in 2015. Despite this, it was revealed in an inquest none of the officers who attended before the victim’s death had received any training in coercive and controlling behaviour.
Had the perpetrator been arrested for the offence, the coroner suggested he would not have been bailed and allowed to go on and kill her.
One of the government’s manifesto commitments was to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade, but police chiefs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Victims Commissioner all recently warned the Prime Minister he will fail to meet that target without significant investment in services.
The Safeguarding Minister told ITV News she will always want more funding.
“Of course I will always want more, of course I will want to spend as much as possible on all of these things.
“However, throwing money at poor performing police forces… making more of that bad practice isn’t going to change things.
“Cultural change, changing the standards of how things are done, we’ve got to start doing things and funding things that stop this happening in the first place.”
She added: “I would say to every police force in the country that what they currently do isn’t good enough and needs to be improved. And we will work alongside them to improve that.
“It’s very, very tiring when I am told lessons will be learned and they aren’t learned.”
A recent strategy implemented by the government called ‘Raneem’s Law’ saw domestic abuse specialists embedded in five police control rooms across the country.
It followed the death of Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother Khaola Saleem, 49, who were murdered by Ms Oudeh’s ex-partner in 2018.
On the night of the murders, Ms Oudeh had called West Midlands Police four times to register concerns for her safety, and the force had previously responded to 10 domestic abuse incidents linked to the case.
One of the forces taking part in the trial is West Midlands Police.
ITV News was given access to see the specialists in operation.
Maia Mason, force contact supervisor said: “In the first three months we’ve seen a 40% increase in the first month alone, of call handlers showing that professional curiosity specifically when it comes to those vulnerable factors which can have a massive role to play when it comes to victimization.
“Each time that someone calls through they need to feel supported, they need to feel believed. Because if they don’t have that first time round it could affect if they ever call through again which could put them at real risk.”
Raneem’s aunt Nour Norris, who campaigned for Raneem’s law said: “It makes me feel really emotional that Raneem and Khaola’s lives are going to be living forever, they’re going to save lives and help others.
“It has taken years to get to this point and it needs to be rolled out nationwide.”
In the case of Regan Tierney, a spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Police said: “We have fully accepted the conclusion of the coroner at Regan’s inquest last August. We understand that there were missed opportunities identified and acknowledge that improvements made to ways of working since will not take away the pain from Regan’s family. Greater Manchester Police’s improved response to domestic abuse has helped halve homicides since 2021 and is seeing more victims kept safe from offenders.”
Domestic Abuse Advice and Support:
Refuge
Refuge supports more than 6,000 clients on any one day, helping them rebuild their lives and overcome many different forms of violence and abuse.
They have a step-by-step guide online as well as an interactive tool about how to secure your phone if you suspect technology-facilitated abuse is happening to you.
- If you, or someone you care about, is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call The National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
The Revenge Porn Helpline
The Revenge Porn Helpline supports all adult victims of intimate image abuse living in the UK. This includes those who have had private sexual images shared without consent, threatened to be shared without consent, or taken without consent. We also provide advice and information to those targeted by sextortion and webcam blackmail.
- If you have been a victim of intimate image abuse, a helpline practitioner can give you advice and support. The number is 0345 6000 459.
- Or you can send an email or online live chat.
Women’s Aid
Women’s Aid is the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children. They have been at the forefront of shaping and coordinating responses to domestic violence and abuse through practice for more than 45 years.
- You can send an email to a Women’s Aid domestic abuse support worker.
- Or you can use their online live chat.
Freedom Project
The Freedom Project is a free domestic abuse charity based in West Cumbria, working with victims, perpetrators and children suffering from trauma and effects of domestic and sexual abuse.
- You can contact the helpline by phone: 07712 117986.
- Or you can send a form on their website.
ManKind:
The Mankind Initiative is the principal, expert and specialist charity in the UK focussing on male victims of domestic abuse.
The charity collaborates and works in close partnership with other organisations and practitioners to support these victims too. It was the first in Great Britain to support male victims.
- You can call ManKind on 01823 334 244 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm)
