Adrienne Klasky, a daughter of a prominent family from Pascagoula, Mississippi, was a loving person destined for greatness. However, to the surprise of her friends and family, Adrienne married Michael David Graham in October, 1980 and soon gave birth to two sons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Adrienne began telling friends that her husband had been emotionally and physically abusive to her not long after she became a mother but was embarrassed to come forward about the abuse since she and her family were well known in Pascagoula. Adrienne remained in the abusive marriage until she separated from her abuser nearly six years later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Adrienne’s estranged husband began stalking her, her family and friends relentlessly after the separation. Unfortunately at this time Mississippi did not have laws to protect women from stalking, nor was there a mandatory arrest law for misdemeanor domestic violence assault. \u00a0\u00a0Adrienne was finally able to obtain a protection order \u2013 one year after the separation and eight months after her divorce was final.\u00a0 The stalking became even more aggressive. Her life had turned into a nightmare of constant harassment from her ex-husband.\u00a0 She went to great lengths to try to avoid him.\u00a0 He threatened to kill her many times and she knew he had guns. At 33 and afraid to live alone, she and her two sons moved in with her parents. She knew for years that her abuser would kill her. She just didn\u2019t know when.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That day came on April 7, 1989.\u00a0 After years of stalking and harassing Adrienne, her abuser followed through on his promises to kill her. Adrienne sat in her vehicle at a red light in downtown Pascagoula, MS, when her ex-husband pulled up beside her door, pulled out a shotgun, and shot her at point blank range.\u00a0 Adrienne Klasky was killed instantly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The entire community was in shock after this tragedy. How could something like this happen to one of its citizens? Why were there no laws on the books that made stalking a criminal and prosecutable offense? How could Adrienne die after fighting so hard to live?\u00a0 Outrage ran rampant in Pascagoula, along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the state and the nation. Criminal justice officials and lawmakers fought to make drastic changes to protect women and Mississippi enacted its first stalking law in 1992.<\/p>\r\n\r\n