September 26, 2008

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. --- A new study says South Carolina is 2nd in the nation for the highest rate of homicides when men kill women. In just about every case, the victim knew the killer.

A family who lost a loved one talked to News 12 about their struggles and give a message that could save someones life.

Almost three years after Rosetta Newsome lost her niece Nicole McKie, the hurt lingers and she's shocked South Carolina is in so much trouble.

Rosetta is at home on Friday, but about three years ago, she was at the scene of her nieces death.

"It's been filled with a lot of memories, tears and sadness," says Rosetta.

Nicole was killed in February of 2006 and the killer was her ex-boyfriend.

"Her father, he just left us with a broken heart. He never got over it," says Rosetta. "We all miss her. We know we can't bring her back, but it was a shocking thing."

This shocking her too: South Carolina ranking second only behind Nevada for the highest rate of homicides per 100,000.

"It is awful. It is terrible. It is terrible," says Rosetta.

Scene like the one in Aiken back in June of 2006, when Craig Baldwin killed his mom and the scene with Nicole are just two of the 63 women killed in the state and two of the 1,836 women killed by men in 2006.

"I think the young ladies should be careful who they get involved with," says Rosetta. "If he don't react right, get away. Please. Get away."

Nationally, 92 percent of the women knew the man. It's worse in South Carolina too, it's at 98 percent.

"It's not worth your life. It's not worth your life," says Rosetta.

Words to live by. Words Rosetta wishes she could tell her niece today.

"It's so hard. It's so hard for all of us," says Rosetta.

Nicole's killer -- Jeffrey Scott Junior -- is in prison in South Carolina, serving a 30 year murder sentence.

The study is from the Violence Policy Center. It's called When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2006 Homicide Data. The study looks at men who murder women in a single victim/single offender incident.

The full report is here:www.vpc.org/studies/wmmw2008.pdf