College Student Stabbed To Death By Her Estranged Ex Boyfriend

Molly McLauren, 23, was stabbed to death by her estranged boyfriend Joshua Stimpson, 26, on June 27, 2017, in the parking lot of a gym in Chatham, Kent.

The two had met one another on the dating app Tinder and were in a seven month relationship. McLauren ended the relationship two weeks before she was murdered. Once she broke up with Stimpson, she received threats via Facebook. In response, she reported the comments to Facebook, yet they were not removed.

In the weeks surrounding McLauren’s death, she expressed how much she feared Stimpson to her mother and friends. His threatening comments were reported to local police, yet nothing was done to stop Stimpson. During her visit to the police station, an officer called McLauren’s troublesome ex-boyfriend to hinder his outrageous behaviors. The call did not deter Simpson from anything.

On the day of the murder, he showed up to the gym she attended. She saw this as an immediate red flag, so she called her mom, who advised her to get in her car and leave. She also texted a friend about the situation in the moment. Unfortunately, Stimpson followed her to the car and dragged her out of it. She suffered multiple stab wounds to the neck and head. When the police arrived Stimpson said, “You want me?”

Stimpson was sentenced to 26 years.

If the law took women who are being stalked, abused, and assaulted more seriously, situations such as this would wouldn’t result in murder. McLauren expressed her concerns to Facebook and local police. Facebook and other social media sites seem to not review user’s reports fully. If they did, it would have been clear that McLauren was being harassed by Stimpson. By posting things on Facebook, he was receiving the attention that an abuser would thrive off. From there, it escalated.

The local police play a role in what happened to McLauren, as well. It seems like the authorities did not take her claims very seriously; giving Stimpson a quick call to stop the harassment was not the right idea. From Stimpson’s response, it was obvious that the call just added fuel to the fire. Authorities should have checked to see what kind of lawful action they had the jurisdiction to do. With this harassing ex-boyfriend, she needed local police to take their time to genuinely help her.

Abuse and harassment is not deemed as seriously as it should be in our society. Dating Violence starts as early as high school, yet it is not added in curricular as often as it should be. The problem is systematic; there is not enough education on the topic. Therefore, a lot of people don’t see the problem as significant as it really is. Then forms of government, such as police officers, fail to take the correct measures to save these victims before it is too late.

Education on dating violence and related issues should be very intense, especially for police officers. They need to know how to handle every one of these cases to the best of their abilities. If this happens, we won’t be mourning over cases like McLauren’s murder. We can’t wait until the next person is murdered or in danger to talk about these topics. Actions need to happen now to stop it from progressing.