7-Year-Old Daughter of NBC Exec Killed by Father to Settle Score with Mother
While it is definitely saddening to hear the story of 7-year-old Gabrielle, who was allegedly murdered by her own father, 47-year-old Neil White, in order to settle a score with his ex-wife, Michelle Hord-White, it is not all that surprising. Intimate partner violence and violence against minors for the purpose of escalating intimate partner conflict in not a new phenomenon, and it has become increasingly higher among Blacks. According to leading research, the leading cause of death in African-American women between the ages of 15 and 44 is femicide (Campbell, Sharps, Gary, Campbell, Lopez 2012). Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon for young children from these relationships to become victims of the violence as well.
One of the greatest atrocities associated with intimate partner homicide is that, like so many other pathological behaviors within the black community, is often buried underneath layers denial and confusion — swept under the rug and ignored. Black women have been the target of an endless string of malevolent assaults that range from Childhood Sexual Abuse, at a minimum rate of 60 percent, to intimate partner homicide as the leading cause of death of Black women in their prime.
This type of pathological behavior is a reflection of the complex trauma that has been perpetuated through generations in the Black community. It is also expressive of the idea that Black women are immensely undervalued and under-protected in the Black community.
At some point, we are going to have to face the fact that we are a part of a racial group in which it has become an acceptable course of action for our men to attack, malign, abuse and even kill our women — without any form of talionic response. There is no form of accountability in which Black men are being held accountable for the manner in which they are failing our women.
In the Black community, domestic violence and intimate partner violence is a dark and hidden secret that remains hidden at all costs, but when a young girl like Gabrielle White is murdered by her own father as a means of getting the last shot in a bitter divorce, we are being forced to the mat in a way that is demanding that we confront this issue.
Neil White could only think of himself when he was faced with the decision of whether or not he would be the protector his daughter needed or the one to violate the sanctity of her innocence in the worst possible way. All he could think of was the fact that he had lost control over his ex-wife, and he could not allow that happen. The idea that she had somehow won — that she had beaten him — was more than he could bear.
The fact that a man could harbor such hatred for his ex-wife that he would be willing to destroy his own seed in order to bring her pain speaks volumes to his state of mind, and his psychological stability — or the lack thereof.
While women are predominantly the victims of DV and IPV, it is much worth among Blacks, where Black women, who make up approximately eight percent of the population, represent 22 percent of all intimate partner homicides. The statistical significance of these numbers should not be marginalized.
While the causes for the disproportionality associated with the rate in which Black women are victimized are highly complex, there must be a concerted effort of among all of those who are involved in order to come up with a viable solution to this enigmatic issue. It should not take the senseless murder of a 7-year-old girl in order to drive us to action. We should be willing to raise our standards as to how we treat one another, especially our women and children.
A place where children are not safe is a place where the future of these children has become compromised, and the collective at risk of annihilation. Anyone who has followed me for any length of time is aware of the fact that I am passionate about the instauration of the Black family nucleus as the core institution through which a powerful and efficacious axiology can be developed among the Black collective; however, the recrudescence of this powerful institution is on the verge of complete annihilation.
In my latest book, Born in Captivity: Psychopathology as a Legacy of Slavery, I address these issues and much more, applying solutions that are absolutely necessary to the restoration of the Black race to our original glory. ~ Rick Wallace, Ph.D., Psy.d.
Hord-White is a high-level executive with the NBC network, and she was not at home at the time of the mother
The Original Article:
“A very messy divorce has left one innocent 7-year-old girl dead, allegedly at the hands of her own father in New Rochelle, New York.
The series of events unfolded after the police had received a phone call from Tonette Mahon, a woman identified as the babysitter, just this past Tuesday.
Mahon allegedly told officers that she’d received several alarming text messages from Neil White, 47, who was forced to share custody of his daughter after finalizing his divorce from her mother.
When she’d arrived at the home, she says that she’d called out for White and his daughter and there was no response. When Mahon walked upstairs she claimed that all of the curtains were drawn and the house was completely dark. She also says that White then emerged with blood all over his shirt, as well as injuries to his wrists, he said that the baby girl, Gabriel, was “in her room resting.”
Mahon told police she found the lifeless body of Gabrielle White, 7, in her bed.
White was married to Michelle Hord-White, an NBCUniversal Executive.
Neighbors claimed that the couple was allegedly having problems, which were well-known in the community that they’d lived in. In January, police were called after an apparent domestic dispute and Hord-White filed for divorce only 3 months later in April of this year.
The two of them were not living together and were also sharing custody of their daughter during this time. As part of their arrangement in the marital split, White made an agreement that he would surrender their family residence to his ex-wife only a day before allegedly killing his daughter.
Hord-White was not home during this time.
The girl’s mother and family issued the following statement: “No words could sum up all that Gabrielle meant to us but she was our light. We are broken and devastated that our sweet little girl is gone but we’re thankful that we had seven wonderful years with her. While we begin to mourn privately, we thank those friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers for the tremendous support that we’ve already received. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly request donations be made online at the hordfoundation.org, P.O. Box 4671 Danbury, CT 06813.”
Neil White has since been arraigned on second-degree murder charges in the death of his daughter. Orders of protection have been put in place for Hord-White and one other person.
Neil’s next court date will be on the 15th of this month.”