Man accused of killing Lexington woman and her son abused her for more than a year, court documents show

The killings of a mother and her young son were the culmination of about one and a half years of abuse, according to the words of Jennifer Marsaw herself. 

Jennifer Marsaw and her five-year-old son, Marzai Dawson, died early Wednesday morning after police say her husband, Irving Marsaw, shot them in their home. He had returned hours after a witness said Jennifer Marsaw had kicked Irving Marsaw out of the house on Tuesday afternoon; on the phone that evening, she had told him that she would be taking him to trial. 

Family tell WCCO that Irving Marsaw controlled her through emotional manipulation and physical threats throughout their entire relationship. Jennifer Marsaw filed two petitions for harassment restraining orders against Irving Marsaw, but dismissed both of them herself. 

Raheem Campbell, another one of Jennifer Marsaw's sons, said that she begged him not to get involved after Irving Marsaw threatened to kill him and her other children. 

"You could just tell he was always watching over her," Campbell said, describing how his mother feared speaking openly in Irving Marsaw's presence. 

Jennifer Marsaw's restraining order petitions detail that fear. She said that Irving Marsaw had threatened to "hang" her and threatened to kill her children if she testified against him. On multiple occasions, according to Jennifer Marsaw, Irving had severely damaged both her home and her car. Jennifer Marsaw's cousin, Melissa Bolling, told WCCO that he smashed through doors and destroyed appliances and windows at her Andover property in August. 

The first petition was filed in November; she dismissed it in December. The second petition came the very next month in January; she dismissed it in February. 

"I am his wife and I need to help him so we can take care of our children properly. I do not have a fear of Irving," Jennifer Marsaw said. 

Campbell and his long-term girlfriend, Gianna Ruiz, indicated that Irving Marsaw's constant threats of violence did not stop. 

"He's been doing this for so long and it's not like she hasn't been calling it in," Ruiz said. 

In court Friday in Anoka County, a judge placed $5 million bail on Irving Marsaw after stating that he presents one of the most severe threats to public safety that she has ever seen. 

Tina Bronson, Co-Executive Director with Alexandra House, said that she doesn't know the specifics of Jennifer Marsaw's case, but noted that domestic abuse creates a "trap" for victims and survivors that is very difficult to break away from safely. 

She said that anyone in that kind of situation is dealing with any number of unknown variables, from children to the ability to travel undetected, that can make it nearly impossible to leave an abusive partner without the violence escalating. 

"We tend to put the blame on the victim, the blame belongs on the person who did the harm," Bronson said, "we know that the most dangerous time is when the victim, survivor is severing that relationship." 

Two weeks prior to the killings, court filings show that Jennifer Marsaw told Minneapolis police that Irving Marsaw had strangled her to the point where she blacked out. He then proceeded to beat her in a car that she eventually escaped from. 

Bronson said that when her team and others in this field of expertise do risk assessments, strangulation is often a clear warning sign that the violence could escalate to homicide. 

The attack that Minneapolis Police responded to was on March 3; a warrant for Irving Marsaw's arrest wasn't filed until March 17, the day before investigators say Irving Marsaw killed Jennifer Marsaw and Dawson. 

A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said that a judge signed the warrant at about 10:30 a.m. and it wasn't in the office's "Warrant Tracker" system until about 1:00 p.m. Deputies had not yet made an attempt to serve the warrant. 

Violence Free Minnesota, an organization dedicated to addressing domestic violence, recommends calling a confidential hotline called Minnesota DayOne at (866)-223-1111 for help. Alexandra House's 24-hour-helpline is 763-780-2330.