Tina Weaver Labriola was born on August 18, 1967 in Vineland, New Jersey. She was the youngest of three with an older sister and older brother. Family was always an important part of her life. When she was 5, her parents and brother moved to Florida where she attended school and made many friends. She was always the funny one and she loved animals. The family finally moved back to Vineland and she met her husband (David Pangburn) and gave birth to her daughters, Christina and Nicole. After a few years, they divorced. Tina then met and married Anthony Labriola and though their marriage was short-lived, Tina was very happy, til she met Bill Severs.
Bill Severs was a dual personality. He could spout scripture better than any preacher one could meet. He could charm a snake. But, beneath that suave exterior there was a broading rage. Often he would strike Tina and she would not tell anyone. Finally she filed the first Restraining Order but as a lot of women do, she was coerced by Bill by promises of change, to drop it. This was followed by more threats, estrangement from family and physical violence. After a vicious attack, our family was finally able to convince her to file a Permanent Restraining Order against him which she did in September. This time, there was no turning back.
Tina renewed a relationship she had with an old boyfriend and they made plans to be engaged. Bill found out about it. On January 10, 2002 Tina was killed with a single rifle shot by William Severs. He stated that if he couldn't have her no one could. After the shooting, Bill went to the hospital where we are not sure if he wanted to make sure that Tina was dead or to apologize as he didn't answer that question when it was posed at trial. Then Severs left the area. He was profiled three times on America's Most Wanted, before being caught ten months later.
During the 3 1/2 years of Discovery Hearings and Trial, our eyes were opened to the world of domestic violence. What we learned, sent us into a couple of different directions. First, we have been and still are in contact with SenatorJeff VanDrew and Assemblyman Nelson Albano. They have drafted and submitted to the Assembly, a bill to create a 16-person task force to research the current laws governing domestic violence. We became aware of areas in our current judicial system where change is crucial. They have also drafted and submitted a bill to allow Restraining Orders to become part of the evidentiary process of court proceedings. Additionally, we have vocalized our desire to Senator VanDrew, Assemblyman Albano and Assemblwoman Riley to see education brought into our school systems.
We would like to see the children of our communities learn that domestic violence is not acceptable behavior and that there are other ways to vent their anger rather than striking out towards another. We believe that educating our children is the answer to breaking the chain of domestic violence.
Future plans include starting a program at the Middle and High School levels called S.O.D.A. (Students Opposing Domestic Abuse). This program would be an open forum where teens could meet to discuss their concerns about healthy relationships. A part of this goal would be to provide role models and guest speakers to meet with our teens and give them the tools that they need to overcome and prevent domestic violence in their lives. We have met with another program within the State which closely mirrors our goals. We have discussed our plans with our local School Superintendent and hope that they will be our beginning point.
Secondly, we have created Tina's Fund for Domestic Violence Awareness. This is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization created to provide funds that are needed in the community for domestic violence awareness. We host an annual Cinderalla Sale and the proceeds go to the Tina Labriola Scholarship Fund at Cumberland County College. Other fundraisers will be held throughout the year to promote awareness with the proceeds being used to provide further educational materials.
Myrna Durand