In the final minutes of her life, Kim Barton was shaking with fear as she drove to her farmhouse near Lebanon to finally move out on her abusive husband.

She began to pray.

"She prayed for God to forgive all her sins, and she asked Him to put a ring of protection around us girls,'' said her daughter, Jamie Reising.

Kim had barely stepped out of her car in the driveway when Rocky Barton ran up and shot her twice with a shotgun. She died within minutes, in Jamie's arms.

This is one of those sad "If only'' stories.

If only someone had reported Rocky for not coming to work, he might have been arrested for violating his home-arrest sentence for domestic violence.

If only his wife had testified about abuse a few weeks earlier, he might have gone back to prison.

If only the people around him had seen the warning signs and refused to cut him any more slack.

If only Kim had listened to her daughters and never married a convict already serving a sentence for attempted murder for stabbing and cutting the throat of a girlfriend in Kentucky.

But to victims of domestic violence, "if only'' sounds as useless as last night's tears. It might as well be "never.''

"She was blinded by him,'' said her oldest daughter, Julie Reynolds.

Kim and her daughters knew Rocky for years, as a friend of the family. "He was Mr. Prince Charming,'' said Tiffany Reising. "He showered her with affection and attention.'' There were limos, diamonds and flowers. "He waited until they were married to show his true obsessiveness.''

Then he turned into the scary loser the daughters call "idiot psycho-freak.''

"When he was mean, he was mean as a snake,'' Tiffany said.

He accused Kim of affairs. "He told her 'If you leave me, there will be a murder-suicide,' " Tiffany said.

But Kim thought she could change him, said Julie. "She blamed it on being institutionalized in prison.''

When someone should have dialed 911, they held back, because Rocky would be sent back to prison for parole violation. They gave him a break - and he used their kindness to kill Kim.

There was something else. Kim had practice being the victim.

"My mom was abused her whole life,'' said Julie. "She never got out of that cycle of abuse.''

After murdering Kim, Rocky put the shotgun to his chin and pulled the trigger. But he made an ugly mess of that, too. Now he's sitting on death row. The other day he wrote a letter asking Kim's daughters to "bury me by your mom.''

"It makes me sick,'' said Julie. "He showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever. In court, he smirked at me.''

Julie, 27, Tiffany, 21, and Jamie, 18, have a lifetime of sorrow and pain ahead. They applauded Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel's team for getting the death penalty.

"I watched my mom die,'' said Jamie. "Someday I'd like to watch him die.''

Their advice to other women: "Go to the cops.'' "Seek personal counseling.'' "Don't think you're going to change somebody, and don't think it can't happen to you.''

"If there's anything good out of this,'' Tiffany said, "our mom is at peace, and us three girls will never be one of those stupid girls walking around with a black eye.''

If only more women could learn the same lesson.

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.