Friends to host fundraiser in memory of domestic violence murder victim in Oak Island
RUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A domestic violence shelter is speaking out following two separate domestic violence incidents that happened within 24 hours of each other this past weekend.
Hope Harbor Home says it is alarmed about the two separate incidents that occurred October 1 and October 2 in Brunswick county.
One of the assaults happened at a home on Saint Joseph Drive in Bolivia. A woman was found stabbed, and was taken to the hospital. Her husband was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Another attack happened in Oak Island, 50-year-old Tina Sedberry Carlton, was found dead with an apparent stab wound. Her boyfriend, Kevin Michael Allen Vaughan, is now facing second-degree murder charges.
Carlton’s friends remember her for her upbeat personality.
“She has one of those personalities, that she would walk in a room, and it would light up,” said JT Mariotte, friend.
“she was always so positive and upbeat,” said friend Wendy Love. “You know, if she had down time, you never saw it, because her face showed that smile all the time.”
Friends and community members are coming together, to hold a fundraising raffle and live auction to celebrate Carlton’s life on Satuday at the Oak Island Elks Lodge. Her friends named it after what they say was one of her most captivating features, “Tina Carlton’s Smile”. The fundraiser will run from 3pm until sunset, and will benefit Hope Harbor Home. A Brunswick County domestic violence shelter, and the future needs of her children.
“We want her to be defined by her life and the woman she was, and not by her death. We’re not going to let somebody rob us of our Tina,” said Mariotte.
“She was going through a silent battle that none of us was aware of, that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating, and we’ve all kind of realized we need to do more to be there,” said Love.
With both attacks on women, and October Being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Hope Harbor Home is speaking out.
“A lot of people feel they don’t need to get involved, a lot of people turn their head and they’ll say ‘ no we don’t want to get in that’ . I need people to understand that, you can get involved, you just have to be very mindful how you get involved. If it’s a matter of, –if it’s a church, if it’s a business, if you would just put fliers of our organization in your building and just say, ‘hey I know these people here’,” said Donna Varnum, Hope Harbor Home’s program director.
Community members have donated items for auction fundraiser. Items to be auctioned include furniture, autographed items from recording artists and sports athletes, and diamond jewelry.
After the fundraiser in Tina Carlton’s memory at the Oak Island Elks Lodge, a ceremony will be held on the beach with flowers being released into the ocean.
