Tennessee began enforcing a new law on July 1 that requires those arrested for or charged with violent domestic offenses to wear GPS monitoring devices as a condition of bail, unless a court determines that they no longer pose a threat to their alleged victims.
The new law was named in honor of Marie Varsos, 31, and her 60-year-old mother, Debbie Sisco, who were fatally shot by Ms. Varsos’s estranged husband, Shaun Varsos, inside their home in April 2021.
The shooting occurred while Mr. Varsos was out on bond after being arrested in March for aggravated assault against his wife. Police said he broke into Ms. Sisco’s home in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Mr. Varsos was later found dead inside an SUV near his residence with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Under the new law, defendants in domestic violence cases will need to wear a GPS monitoring device, which they have to pay for themselves, if they are released on bond, according to the bill.
Alleged victims will be notified via a phone app or electronic device if the defendant is within their proximity or if the defendant is in an area they have been ordered to avoid.
Alex Youn, the son of Ms. Sisco and brother of Ms. Varsos, said he believed that the measure would have provided more protection to his family if it had been enacted sooner.
Mr. Youn said he hoped that his family’s tragedy serves as a reminder to state governments and authorities that domestic violence can lead to fatal outcomes.
“Although this legislative victory is bittersweet without my mom and sister, I want their story to be a wake-up call to state governments nationwide to pass similar laws and save lives,” he said.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline reports that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men in the United States is a survivor of severe domestic violence.
It stated that an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States, amounting to more than 12 million women and men over a single year.
One in 6 women (16.2 percent) and 1 in 19 men (5.2 percent) in the United States have been a victim of stalking at some point during their lifetime in which they felt fearful or believed that they or someone close to them may be harmed or killed.
