BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's been four Aprils since everything for the Best family seemed like the worst.
Christine Best, then a 31-year-old mother of eight living in Over-the-Rhine, was severely beaten April 13, 1994, by a man who broke into her home 15 minutes after being released from jail -- where he had served time on a previous conviction of domestic violence against her.
"She will never be well again," said her aunt, Mary Darden, 56, of the Bronx, N.Y., who has custody of four of the children. "She can't talk or do anything herself. She'll never be able to walk or move her arms or anything."
An Ohio victim-notification program announced Mondayaims to help others avoid a similar fate. Beginning in June, victims can find out when offenders are out of jail with the help of an automated system that connects to state prisons, county jails, juvenile centers and county prosecutors' offices.
The status of criminals' cases will be available 24 hours a day through a computerized telephone system.
Ohio prisons release an average of 50 inmates a day and about 18,000 a year, in addition to county jails and juvenile centers, Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery said Monday when she announced the program known as VINE (Victim Information & Notification Everyday). "Many of these inmates being returned to the streets have committed vicious, violent crimes," she said. "For each of these crimes, there is a victim and a family who want to know what's happening. "VINE will let these people know almost immediately if their perpetrator is scheduled for release, parole or a hearing. Information is power, and this is about empowering victims."
VINE is too long in coming, said Mindy Good, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Department of Human Services, which raised thousands of dollars to help the Best family.
"It sure would have helped in her case," she said. "That was a horrible, horrible thing, and I don't believe she'll ever be the same again."
Ms. Best tried to end things with Robert B. Jones, a man with a history of violence against women. But his attack on her four years ago left her in a coma for months.
Ms. Best's quality of life is the thing destroyed the most, her aunt said. Her eight children are split between three family members, and she will never really know them.
"It's just a mess for her to be such a young woman," Ms. Darden said. "The jails should let people know when their attackers are getting out."
