INDIANAPOLIS — A woman was arrested after she allegedly tried to run over her boyfriend in Indianapolis last week.
The alleged victim told police that Donesha Stewart swung a knife at him and busted the windows out of his car before trying to run him over. In that car were six children, including a baby, leaving behind tire marks and the children traumatized.
That hasn't been the only domestic violence case involving kids in central Indiana in the past week.
Three teenagers witnessed the unthinkable in Plainfield. Police say their ex-stepdad fatally shot their mother in a murder-suicide on Dec. 18.
A week later, on Indianapolis' northeast side, IMPD said a mother was gunned down in the street by her boyfriend, their children waking up Christmas morning to their mom dead. Their father was arrested later that day.
"The child isn't going to leave that situation unharmed because what they see, what they witness, what happens, the complications of how that loss happened are going to cause long-lasting, lifelong-lasting, issues," said Jessica Hood, owner and practitioner at Indy Child Therapist.
Hood said kids witnessing domestic violence could affect their relationships with others as adults.
"These things are supposed to be kept secret, right? Mom and dad don't want people outside the home knowing these things are happening, and so there ends up being no check or balance for the kid to know that this isn't normal in other environments," Hood said.
According to Hood, the trauma caused by a child seeing domestic violence could manifest itself in many different ways.
"Increased anxiety and depression levels. Problems with self-esteem. We know that it leads to early onset substance use, along with continued substance use into adulthood," Hood said.
Some signs a child may be witnessing domestic violence at home vary. Hood said some kids may be anti-social, bully, or be highly explosive, while others act overly compliant or profusely apologize after acting out.