CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — More than a year after 19-year-old Roschelle Woyee was killed in her home, the man police said shot her pleaded not guilty.
Woyee's parents, Robert and Elizabeth, were in court Thursday when Roschelle's former boyfriend, Daniel Jaworski, made his plea.
"It is a difficult thing to be in the same room … to look at him," Elizabeth said.
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Roschelle had taken out a protection order to keep Jaworski away from her, but the case was dropped when she failed to show up for court.
The two had a daughter together.
Several days after that, police responded to an incident between Jaworski and Roschelle Woyee, but didn't make any arrests. Hours later, Woyee was shot and killed.
Woyee's family said she and Jaworski were fighting over her cell phone just before she was killed.
Police said bullet casings found at the scene were from a gun owned by Jaworski.
In court Thursday, Robert Woyee wore a sweatshirt with his daughter's picture emblazoned on it.
"I love her to death," the father said. "That's my baby."
The case will now go to trial.
The plea came on the same day as a domestic violence march in uptown Charlotte. Organizers planned the march in honor Lasheria Hall, who died Sunday after police said her ex-boyfriend shot her.
Hall was the first victim of deadly domestic violence in Charlotte this year.
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"When it escalates to the point of homicide, it means someone's trying to leave," Mike Sexton, who organized the march, said. "The scary part is we don't know how many are living as hostages in their homes out there."
"It's not changing," Elizabeth Woyee said. "Everyday [domestic violence] is happening. [There's] just nothing that's been done about it."
Previous Stories: December 22, 2008: Family Remembers Latest Victim Of Domestic Violence