He served time for abusing his wife. Less than 2 years later she’s dead.

William Douglas Bryant Jr. had served time for abusing the wife he is now accused of killing.

Gulfport police found Kari Whitley, 43, dead in her apartment Wednesday afternoon when they responded to a 911 call.

Whitley, who lived at Legacy at Gulf Pointe apartments, suffered wounds to her head and upper torso, police spokesman Josh Bromen said. She was struck with an unidentified object. Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said Thursday afternoon an autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death.

City prosecutor Richard Smith was returning from a domestic-violence conference in Seattle when he heard Bryant had been arrested in Whitley’s murder.

“I’m mad as hell,” Smith told the Sun Herald. “I don’t know if this case would have been any different if we had all these tools I’m trying to put in place. I just know we didn’t have these tools and I want them.”

Smith is trying to put together a model program in Gulfport so Harrison County law enforcement professionals can use proven tools already available to assess the potential for repeat abuse, share information and work together on cases. Smith said he’s spent 300 hours on the project over the last six months.

“I’m trying to get buy-in from everyone involved,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

He added, “What we need more than anything is for all the community groups — judges, prosecutors, shelters, officers — to have open communication.”

For Smith, Whitley’s death reinforced the urgency.

He said Bryant was charged with domestic violence in December 2015, when he butted Whitley in the head and bruised her face around the eyes. He was later convicted and served five months in jail and was ordered to attend domestic-violence intervention classes.

Bryant completed 10 of the 18 classes, then said he could no longer afford them, Smith said. Bryant was allowed to switch to cheaper anger-management classes, which he completed. Smith said Bryant was released from probation in August.

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bryant in July on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Sheriff’s Lt. Coley Judy said a motorist reported a disturbance in a vehicle at Canal and Landon roads. Deputies pulled over the vehicle.

Bryant, who was a passenger in the vehicle driven by his son, was cussing the deputy. The deputy and Bryant wound up rolling into a ditch, where the deputy got the upper hand and arrested Bryant. Judy said Bryant “was yelling obscenities all the way to the jail.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 4:51 PM with the headline "He served time for abusing his wife. Less than 2 years later she’s dead.."