Maxine Redfern told a Baltimore County Circuit judge last month that she feared what her husband might do because she filed for a divorce.
She said his behavior had become “more and more erratic” after she brought up the separation in July, prompting her to call Baltimore County Police on two occasions when she said her husband refused to stop intruding on her space in their Parkville home, where they lived together while separated, or prevented her from leaving.
On Friday, less than two months later, police believe the 48-year-old’s husband fatally shot her before opening fire on responding officers, who fired back. Investigators found a handgun next to Arnel Redfern, 52, who died at the scene in Parkville.
Legal remedies can help, but leaving is a dangerous time.
Maxine Redfern had taken the steps that Maryland’s legal system offers to people experiencing abuse — she sought a protective order along with her divorce filing, and appeared at both of her hearings. She said she didn’t think her husband, who had convictions that would disqualify him from possessing a gun in Maryland, had access to firearms. He hadn’t made any threat of physical violence, but was “constantly harassing” her over the divorce, she said in court last month.
“He constantly starts arguing, he constantly puts me in situations where I can’t leave, he reminds me that he’s the sole provider of the house and that I have nowhere to go,” she said at the hearing where she was granted a temporary protective order against her husband. The Baltimore Sun obtained a recording of that hearing as well as proceedings a week later, when she was granted a weaker final protective order.
Leaving is “one of the most dangerous times” for people facing intimate partner violence, who are significantly more at risk of physical violence, said Whitney Adell, the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence’s prevention coordinator. About one-third of the victims of intimate partner violence who were killed in Maryland in 2021 — the most recent year with detailed data from a state review team — died while trying to end a relationship or after they already had.
Safety planning — working with advocates to determine the intricacies of separation — helps quell the dangers of leaving, she said. Those seeking to leave an abusive relationship can start by contacting a 24/7 help line, such as Baltimore County’s Family Crisis Center (410-828-6390) and Turnaround Inc. (443-279-0379), to start planning matters such as shelter and custody. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is also available 24/7 at 800-799-7233.
Judge agreed husband was mentally abusive.
Arnel Redfern was not at Maxine Redfern’s first hearing Oct. 10, when the judge ultimately ordered him to surrender any firearms, vacate the home, and have no contact with his wife, at least until a final hearing a week later. The judge, John J. Nagle III, described his decision a “close call from the court.”
At the next hearing, Maxine Redfern said she was “mentally beat down” by her husband, but didn’t think he would physically harm her. She said her husband, who worked for a quarry and as a mental health adviser, had followed her to Florida, where she went to visit her godmother and “try and figure things out.”
“It may not be physical, it may not be him punching on me, but it is enough that I feel like I am losing my sanity,” she said. “And I don’t want to be in some psych ward somewhere.”
The 52-year-old frequently interrupted his wife and argued with her during that hearing. He denied having restrained her, and said he was “concerned about her well-being.” Arnel Redfern repeatedly asserted he was concerned about having to vacate the house, telling the judge his wife didn’t work and hasn’t contributed to the mortgage. Both of the Parkville residents said there had been no history of domestic violence in their relationship.
“I could never harm her. I love her,” he said, interrupting Baltimore County Circuit Judge Jan M. Alexander, who had determined the husband was mentally abusing his wife of 11 years. Alexander ordered Arnel Redfern for a second time to surrender any firearms, and not to abuse or harass his wife. The final order did not require Arnel Redfern to avoid contact with his wife or vacate the house.
“I’m not putting anybody out of the house. You all chose to separate while living in the same household, that’s your choice. But you need to respect boundaries, sir,” Alexander said.
“I’m probably gonna stay away at least a month, give it some time,” Arnel Redfern told the judge.
Gun laws are strong, but state’s execution needs improvement, advocate says.
Neither police, who are investigating the Nov. 24 homicide, nor the attorney general’s office, which is investigating the police shooting that day, have said how they believe Arnel Redfern obtained a handgun.
He was convicted of offenses in the early 1990s that would disqualify him from gun ownership in Maryland. A Baltimore County Sheriff’s Office background check returned no guns owned in his name before he was served with both the temporary and final protective orders. State law mandates that anyone subject to a final protective order must surrender their guns. Arnel Redfern twice signed forms last month certifying he did not possess any firearms.
Maryland has “some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the country,” Sam Levy, the area’s legal director for Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement about the state’s firearms restrictions regarding domestic violence. He said the laws, such as those that focus on keeping guns away from abusers, are “only as strong as their enforcement and implementation” through state and local governments, the courts, police and victim advocates.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case where its conservative majority, which has notably struck down centuries-old gun control measures, is weighing whether people subject to domestic violence restraining orders can be forced to surrender their firearms.
A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect data on firearms seized pursuant to final protective orders, passed during this year’s session of the Maryland General Assembly, took effect Oct. 1, with the hope of measuring the effectiveness of the state’s domestic violence laws.
Over 900 final protective orders issued in October required respondents to surrender their firearms, according to the Maryland Judiciary. A total of 19 guns were seized that month pursuant to 12 of those orders, a state police spokesperson said, noting the rest were not found to have firearms to surrender.
