During a relationship panel, a group discussed who takes breakups harder, men or women? The speakers said, “definitely men,” but when the video was shared on Instagram, someone in the commenting section argued that with women burning clothes, slashing tires, and calling the police, they actually seem to take it harder than men do.
That’s when the conversation turned from lighthearted and fun to more serious. The women in the comment section responded, speaking of men who slash faces instead of tires, ignore restraining orders, harass and stalk women, or end their lives entirely. Violence against women is rampant in all parts of the world. Sadly, after one Chicago mother spoke out against this issue in her community, she, too, lost her life.
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Sierra Jamison was found dead in a garage near her home.
Jamison, 30, was reportedly strangled by her boyfriend just a month after speaking out about the disproportionate violence Black women face. Police say Jamison, the mother of a 6-year-old son, was found dead in a garage near her home after her boyfriend strangled her, reported HuffPost.
Lawrence Boyle, 63, reportedly killed her while she was moving her car. Charging documents obtained by HuffPost stated that Jamison and Boyle had been friends for 10 years before their relationship turned romantic a few weeks before her death.
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Boyle allegedly waited in Jamison's garage before she arrived.
On the evening of September 18, Jamison told her mother that she was going to park her Jeep in the garage, in the alley close to her home. Prosecutors say Boyle met her there, strangled her, took her phone, and then covered her body with a tarp.
Prosecutors believe Boyle waited inside Jamison’s garage before killing her, CBS News reported. When Jamison did not return home or return phone calls or text messages, her mother sent Jamison’s brother to go check on her.
Eventually, Boyle turned himself in, confessing to the killing.
As her brother entered the alley, he said he saw Boyle closing the garage door. He noticed that Boyle had his sister’s phone. Boyle told Jamison’s brother she’d thrown it at him, and then Boyle left, saying he was going to a nearby store. Jamison’s mother went to check the garage herself and found her daughter dead underneath the tarp.
Shortly after leaving the garage, Boyle reportedly called his ex-wife and admitted to strangling Jamison. He eventually turned himself in to police and confessed to the killing.
This was not the first time Jamison had been the victim of a violent crime.
Boyle told officers he believed Jamison had a gun. Police say he admitted that he continued strangling her even after he realized she was unarmed.
A month before her death, in an interview with CBS Chicago, Jamison spoke about the violence Black women face.
She had been the victim of an attempted carjacking. She credited other Black women who came to her aid. “They literally stepped in and helped me, it was a lot of Black empowerment, women empowerment that day,” Jamison said.
Jamison was a motivated single mother to her son.
Jamison was passionate about protecting her car because it symbolized the hard work and sacrifices she had made for her son. “My son had open heart surgery, he has a disability, so he means a lot to me,” she said. “And I’m not [going to] let this young man, with a knife at that, take anything I work hard [for] away from me.”
In an interview with ABC Chicago, Jamison’s mother described her as “ambitious.” Her family said she was working to become a phlebotomist and planned to attend nursing school.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women's shelter domesticshelters.org.
