80s_Fan
05-26-2005, 04:28 PM
Updated April 14, 2005, 11:44 a.m. ET
Disfigured woman testifies at ex-boyfriend's trial
WACO, Texas (AP) — Waking up in a pool of blood, Carolyn Thomas didn't realize a bullet had blown off most of her face, leaving a concave void. She worried about her mother, who had been shot in the stomach. She wondered if help would come in time. When police entered the apartment, an officer stepped over her, thinking she was dead.
"I grabbed his ankle to let him know I was alive and who had shot me," Thomas said.
With bandages covering much of her disfigured face, Thomas, 34, testified Wednesday at her former boyfriend's murder trial, painting a tortured picture of abuse that ended in gunshots.
She and her former boyfriend, Terrence Dewaine Kelly, had dated more than 10 years when she and her mother were shot in 2003. Kelly, 32, faces from 15 years to life in prison if convicted of killing Janice Reeves, 49, and injuring Thomas. He has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.
His attorney, Bill Johnston, doesn't dispute that Kelly shot the women. But he said his client has mental problems and didn't know his actions were wrong, which is the legal definition of insanity in Texas.
But Thomas testified that Kelly never showed signs of mental illness. Authorities say the day of the shootings, Kelly was high on marijuana laced with formaldehyde.
The bullet hit Thomas' right eye, tore off her nose, ripped through the roof of her mouth, pierced her left cheek and lodged in her left shoulder.
Thomas met Kelly a few years after moving to Waco in 1990 from Midland, where she was a high school track star. Kelly was quiet and shy - much different than the smart, athletic, high-achieving guys she'd always dated - but she wanted to give him a chance, Thomas said.
After dating nearly two years, they moved in together and the physical abuse began, Thomas said. His jealousy escalated; Kelly forbade her from having male friends and from wearing tight outfits, she said.
Through the years Thomas had numerous bruises and bloody noses, but she never went to the hospital or called police. She sometimes moved out but always went back, hoping Kelly's sweet side would resurface.
When Kelly promised the violence would never happen again, Thomas believed him. She was also afraid that if she left for good, Kelly would carry out his threats of killing her or her relatives.
"I did a lot of praying," Thomas said. "Prayer is good, but in those types of situations, you're going to need a lot more than prayer."
Thomas broke away from Kelly in 2000 when he was sentenced to eight years in prison for a 1997 cocaine possession charge.
But when Kelly wrote her letters saying he had changed, promising to attend truck-driving school and get a job after his release, she gave him one more chance.
He had been released on parole less than two months when the shootings happened at Reeves' Waco apartment, where Thomas and Kelly had been staying.
Thomas was hospitalized for six months. When she went home, a bandage covered all of her face except her left eye. She had a trachea tube to help her breathe and a stomach tube for feeding.
She winced each time she had to clean the wounds.
"That was the hardest thing, to be able to look at myself in the mirror," Thomas said.
Thomas didn't go out much because people stared and sometimes made rude comments, and she would frighten children.
Thomas couldn't afford plastic surgery but found out about a free reconstructive surgery project developed in 1994 by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
In February during a nine-hour operation, a team of surgeons rebuilt Thomas' upper jaw using one of her lower leg bones. They used skin grafts from her thigh to reconstruct her cheek and used her facial tissue to reconfigure her right eye socket.
Thomas needs at least six more surgeries, and will get a prosthetic eye and dentures. Her new nose will be prosthetic, probably attached to eyeglasses, but she will be able to breathe through it and won't need the trachea tube.
Now, Thomas' bandage is smaller, only covering her nose area and part of her mouth. She can eat some soft foods.
She isn't as self-conscious anymore; she drives to the grocery store and to her weekly counseling sessions. Thomas also has started speaking to students and church groups about domestic violence.
"One thing I used to ask God was why did he leave me here. It was obvious he left me here for something. Why else would I survive a gunshot to the face, with half my face gone?" she said.
"I know why I'm here: to help women in domestic violence situations. Maybe by looking at me, they'll be able to see and understand where I'm coming from. If I'd had someone like myself (to talk to), it might have made a difference."
Disfigured woman testifies at ex-boyfriend's trial
WACO, Texas (AP) — Waking up in a pool of blood, Carolyn Thomas didn't realize a bullet had blown off most of her face, leaving a concave void. She worried about her mother, who had been shot in the stomach. She wondered if help would come in time. When police entered the apartment, an officer stepped over her, thinking she was dead.
"I grabbed his ankle to let him know I was alive and who had shot me," Thomas said.
With bandages covering much of her disfigured face, Thomas, 34, testified Wednesday at her former boyfriend's murder trial, painting a tortured picture of abuse that ended in gunshots.
She and her former boyfriend, Terrence Dewaine Kelly, had dated more than 10 years when she and her mother were shot in 2003. Kelly, 32, faces from 15 years to life in prison if convicted of killing Janice Reeves, 49, and injuring Thomas. He has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity.
His attorney, Bill Johnston, doesn't dispute that Kelly shot the women. But he said his client has mental problems and didn't know his actions were wrong, which is the legal definition of insanity in Texas.
But Thomas testified that Kelly never showed signs of mental illness. Authorities say the day of the shootings, Kelly was high on marijuana laced with formaldehyde.
The bullet hit Thomas' right eye, tore off her nose, ripped through the roof of her mouth, pierced her left cheek and lodged in her left shoulder.
Thomas met Kelly a few years after moving to Waco in 1990 from Midland, where she was a high school track star. Kelly was quiet and shy - much different than the smart, athletic, high-achieving guys she'd always dated - but she wanted to give him a chance, Thomas said.
After dating nearly two years, they moved in together and the physical abuse began, Thomas said. His jealousy escalated; Kelly forbade her from having male friends and from wearing tight outfits, she said.
Through the years Thomas had numerous bruises and bloody noses, but she never went to the hospital or called police. She sometimes moved out but always went back, hoping Kelly's sweet side would resurface.
When Kelly promised the violence would never happen again, Thomas believed him. She was also afraid that if she left for good, Kelly would carry out his threats of killing her or her relatives.
"I did a lot of praying," Thomas said. "Prayer is good, but in those types of situations, you're going to need a lot more than prayer."
Thomas broke away from Kelly in 2000 when he was sentenced to eight years in prison for a 1997 cocaine possession charge.
But when Kelly wrote her letters saying he had changed, promising to attend truck-driving school and get a job after his release, she gave him one more chance.
He had been released on parole less than two months when the shootings happened at Reeves' Waco apartment, where Thomas and Kelly had been staying.
Thomas was hospitalized for six months. When she went home, a bandage covered all of her face except her left eye. She had a trachea tube to help her breathe and a stomach tube for feeding.
She winced each time she had to clean the wounds.
"That was the hardest thing, to be able to look at myself in the mirror," Thomas said.
Thomas didn't go out much because people stared and sometimes made rude comments, and she would frighten children.
Thomas couldn't afford plastic surgery but found out about a free reconstructive surgery project developed in 1994 by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
In February during a nine-hour operation, a team of surgeons rebuilt Thomas' upper jaw using one of her lower leg bones. They used skin grafts from her thigh to reconstruct her cheek and used her facial tissue to reconfigure her right eye socket.
Thomas needs at least six more surgeries, and will get a prosthetic eye and dentures. Her new nose will be prosthetic, probably attached to eyeglasses, but she will be able to breathe through it and won't need the trachea tube.
Now, Thomas' bandage is smaller, only covering her nose area and part of her mouth. She can eat some soft foods.
She isn't as self-conscious anymore; she drives to the grocery store and to her weekly counseling sessions. Thomas also has started speaking to students and church groups about domestic violence.
"One thing I used to ask God was why did he leave me here. It was obvious he left me here for something. Why else would I survive a gunshot to the face, with half my face gone?" she said.
"I know why I'm here: to help women in domestic violence situations. Maybe by looking at me, they'll be able to see and understand where I'm coming from. If I'd had someone like myself (to talk to), it might have made a difference."