BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A woman who was a victim of domestic violence on Sunday in Tamarac did everything she was supposed to do, an expert said Tuesday in Broward County.
Deputies accused Nathan Gingles, who was the subject of a Florida Amber Alert, of kidnapping his 4-year-old daughter, Seraphine, after fatally shooting her 34-year-old mother, Mary Gingles; her 64-year-old grandfather, David Ponzer; and her 36-year-old neighbor, Andrew Ferrin.
Linda Parker, a psychologist and president and chief executive officer of Women in Distress, a nonprofit organization that runs a shelter to help domestic violence victims in Broward County, said the tragedy hurts.
“She did everything that we would encourage and she still ended up deceased at the hands of the batterer,” Parker said.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Mary Gingles had filed for divorce and had a restraining order against Nathan Gingles, 43, that relatives said he showed complete disregard for. Ponzer was staying with her just in case.
“She got help from someone, she filed a restraining order. She tried to co-parent effectively,” Parker said. “She safely had dropoff spots that she went to.”
Parker said restraining orders can work because they can be a deterrent to behavior if the abuser recognizes that breaking the law is “outside” of their character.
Parker said Nathan Gingles is “the type of batterer who is never going to let her go” and “this was going to escalate and her knowing and safety planning accordingly, she wouldn’t have known … she didn’t know how far he was going to take it."
A judge had ordered Nathan Gingles to surrender weapons, ammunition, and a weapons permit to BSO, but it’s unclear if he followed through with that order.