Sisters of woman who was shot warn of abuse signs

Denise Morgan was shot dead in New York

The sisters of an Irish woman killed in an apparent murder-suicide have warned of ignoring "red flags" in relationships.

Mother-of-one Denise Morgan, 39, who was originally from Tullyallen in County Louth, was found dead at a property in Queens, New York City, on 21 October.

The New York Police Department said "a firearm was recovered in the vicinity of [a] deceased male", who they identified as her former partner, 33-year-old Joed Taveras.

"We are speaking as Denise’s voice, just to try and raise awareness about domestic violence," Lisa Morgan told RTÉ Prime Time.

"You have to make a plan to not let them know you’re going... you have to get out."

Lisa and Shannon Morgan said they wanted to raise awareness about domestic violence

Denise Morgan initially moved to New York seven years ago with her ex-husband and daughter.

After the marriage ended amicably, she became involved with Mr Taveras.

Denise's sisters told RTÉ he subjected her to years of coercive abuse, which Lisa witnessed during a visit to New York two years ago.

The abuse had become increasingly physical in recent months, they added.

The family have shared text messages received from Denise in the weeks before her death, in which she said he had strangled her.

On another instance, Mr Taveras is said to have held a knife to her throat.

'We felt helpless'

"She found out that he was cheating on her, that’s when it started getting physical… he knew that she was leaving him, he just couldn’t handle that," Shannon said.

"She was constantly always telling us what was going on and it was worrying us more."

The sisters said they felt "helpless" when speaking to Denise.

"We knew she was in a bad situation...that’s the guilt that’s going to live with us forever is knowing what could have been," Shannon added.

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Denise was due to move into a new apartment 10 days after she was killed.

It is understood she had ended her relationship with Mr Taveras, to which he responded violently.

"He shot her in the back of the head, she tried to run away from him, she screamed 'no' while he shot her," Lisa Morgan said.

"The detective told us everything, what the neighbours reported, there was fighting and then there was the gunshot, and 10 seconds later there was a second gunshot."

'Walk when you see the red flags'

The sisters said they want to raise awareness about domestic abuse, warning people to notice "red flags" in their relationships.

"Don’t hide anything from your family, sometimes as women we tend to ignore this behaviour - the jealousy, the controlling - and you’re embarrassed to speak out about it because you know that you’re going to go back to the abuser," Shannon Morgan said.

"It's shame, it's embarrassing.

"She knew that she had to get out, but unfortunately she didn’t get time to get out.

"They’re never going to change, walk when you see the red flags.

"The first couple of months with someone you can tell how they’re going to behave in a relationship, which he did, he did show it, he was always jealous."

The sisters said they are still coming to terms with Denise's death

The sisters said they were still in shock and are attempting to come to terms with Denise's death.

"I'd go to send her a Snapchat [social media message]... you just forget," Lisa added.

"It's not right, no family should ever have to go through this."

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