Ex-PD Who Defended Accused Abusers Was Murdered by Husband

A former public defender in North Carolina who became a game developer for Microsoft’s Xbox division was shot and killed by her husband in a murder-suicide.

The July 29 death of Melissa “Missy” Brooks Batten was noted in the Harvard Law Bulletin. Batten had worked in domestic violence court as a public defender at the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office in North Carolina. She worked in the office from 2000 to 2002, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Batten had sought an emergency protection order against her husband just a week before she was shot. Batten’s death was also noted by Kotaku and the Seattle Times.

Hat tip to Dagblog.