‘Fearful’ Coast veteran fought for court orders to keep herself safe before shooting, records show
For over a year, Michelle Coleman tried repeatedly to keep herself and her family safe from harm by filing for temporary domestic violence protection orders.
The retired Air Force veteran signed papers for her first order on Feb. 14, 2020, saying on the record that she was suffering from “ongoing physical, emotional (and) mental abuse” at the hands of her husband. She had not yet filed for divorce.
A Justice Court judge granted the protection order — the first in what would become a series of orders issued to Coleman to keep her estranged husband, Vinet Williams Moore, 41, away.
The Sun Herald conducted exclusive interviews and requested and reviewed documents from Jackson County courts to provide a detailed report on how Coleman fought to keep herself safe.
The documents included Justice Court records Coleman filled out to explain why she needed protection orders along with the judicial rulings after each request, in addition to an affidavit Coleman signed to have her estranged husband arrested on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence simple assault.
In addition, the Sun Herald reviewed restraining orders and other records filed in the couple’s pending divorce case in Jackson County Chancery Court.
Coleman is among thousands of domestic violence victims to file for protection orders, also known as restraining orders, in Mississippi annually to try to keep their alleged abusers away, though they often do little to stop them.
That was the case the morning of Sept. 9, when Moore ignored the stipulations of a restraining order and showed up at Coleman’s home in St. Martin, where he reportedly shot and critically injured her while her two children were there. Moore is currently jailed without bond on an attempted murder charge.
Moore wasn’t supposed to be within 100 yards of Coleman except for when they met at a fast-food restaurant for a visitation exchange of a minor child.
‘No knowledge’ of a restraining order
Chancery Judge Neil Harris signed off on the restraining order that remained in effect the day of the shooting, though Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said the sheriff’s department “had no knowledge of it” until they responded to another call to Coleman’s home in February.
“We weren’t notified of it because no one in Chancery passed on the information to the sheriff’s department,” Ezell said. “We found out when she showed us the orders.”
Harris said it’s up to the individual who obtains the restraining order to pass on the information to local law enforcement officers.
When protection orders are issued in Justice Court, they are entered into a database and the sheriff’s department is alerted to the orders. The Chancery Court order, however, only includes a stipulation that says “any and all law enforcement agencies are ordered to assist with enforcement of this order.”
“But there is no way — with the hundreds of thousands of cases we have — that law enforcement can be expected to use a crystal ball to (foresee what will happen) in these cases,” Harris said. “These kinds of cases are common for law enforcement, but domestic violence cases are high-energy cases for both parties and present the most danger to the parties involved and law enforcement.”
In 2019, Jackson County Justice Court officials recorded 458 protection orders followed by 381 in 2020 and 380 orders as of Sept. 21, according to records requested by the Sun Herald.
Justice Court Administrator Lisa Fairley said the number of orders is likely higher because some of the orders may have not been entered into the database.
The protection orders issued in Jackson County Justice Court do not include additional restraining orders issued through Jackson County Chancery Court.
A sledgehammer and a broken gun safe
To back the request for the first protection order, Coleman said her husband “pushed her into a toilet with such force that it broke,” and he would not let her out of the bathroom.
Justice Court Judge Daniel Guice III granted the order, which went into effect on Feb. 14, 2020, and was later extended until March 18, 2020, records say.
The orders lapsed after that until Coleman filed for divorce and signed a petition for another protection order in Justice Court on Nov. 30, 2020.
To support her request, Coleman said her husband had gotten upset about something on Facebook and starting yelling at her.
In response, Coleman said, “I left the home and he followed me to my mother’s home where the yelling continued.”
Coleman said she left the St. Martin home because she didn’t want the couple’s children to hear the yelling and wanted to be gone before things “got physical” in front of them.
Coleman said the arguing started again when she returned the following morning and Moore allegedly started damaging “things” before he “took a sledgehammer and broke my gun safe.”
The mother of four said she couldn’t sleep at her home if he was there “because I am fearful.”
Judge Matt Lachaussee granted the protection order that went into effect on Nov. 30, 2020, and ended on Dec. 4, 2020.
Vinet Moore went before the Justice Court judge the day that order was set to expire and admitted what he had done. As a result, the judge extended the protection order until Jan. 4, 2021.
Still, Coleman’s family said Moore often violated the orders.
One judge denies protection order
On Feb. 5, Coleman filed another petition for a protection order, but Justice Court Judge Jason Thornton denied it three days later.
In that petition, Coleman said she had filed for divorce, but Moore still lived in the home.
To support her request, Coleman accused Moore of harassing her almost daily and said he was following her around yelling and screaming in front of the children. She said she had to call 911 at one point, but Moore wasn’t arrested.
After Thornton rejected the order, Coleman’s plea for protection ended in action on Feb. 11. That’s when Judge Harris signed the temporary restraining order that
forced Moore to move out of the home and prohibited him from stalking, harassing, threatening or assaulting Coleman.
Each of the restraining orders — including another issued in Chancery Court in April that extended the stipulations of the February order and another last Friday that also shut down Moore’s right to child visitation — instructed law enforcement to assist with the enforcement of the restraining orders.
Deputies called to the home
On Feb. 21, deputies responded to a call at the home when Moore showed up to pick up some belongings, in violation of the order that only allowed him to do so with law enforcement present.
“We asked him to leave, and he complied and he left,” Ezell said.
Deputies responded to another call on June 27, when Coleman reported being assaulted.
“When we got there, he was gone,” Ezell said.
A warrant was issued for Moore’s arrest on the misdemeanor domestic violence charge on July 7, but Moore remained free until the day of the Sept. 9 shooting.
On Aug. 16, deputies got another report of Moore violating an order when Coleman went to the Jackson County sheriff’s substation to say he had shown up at her home banging on the door that morning, but she didn’t answer the door.
Deputies took the report, but no arrest followed.
Anyone who violates a protection order can face arrest. The misdemeanor violation is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail or both.
Moore never faced arrest for any of the violations.
Coleman is just one of many men and women who fall victim to domestic violence. However, the prevalence of domestic violence assaults and homicides in Mississippi is difficult to track because no one agency keeps statewide domestic violence statistics.
How to get help for domestic violence on MS Coast
- Gulf Coast Center for Non-violence: http://www.gccfn.org/wordpress/
- 24/7 Crisis Line: 800-800-1396
- Harrison County: 228-435-1968
- Jackson County (Adrienne’s House): 228-762-8267
- Hancock County: 228-252-1999
- Northcutt Legal Clinic: 228-864-7144
- Pine Belt Legal Clinic: 601-705-0139
