The first time she was hit, she said, the argument was over a text from an ex.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Neisha Himes reached down to get her purse to make a quick exit. Suddenly, she said, he was right there.

He hit her with a pillow so hard that she fell off the bed. She fought back, screaming at him and crying. She threw the remote and he charged, hitting her and slamming her onto the wall, then the floor. She kicked him with her leopard heels, trying to pull his hand off her throat.

He only stopped when he saw her mouth was bleeding, she said.