Family of woman who was killed, neighbors plan purple ribbons through Riverside

Come Monday night, the Riverside neighborhood will be awash with purple ribbons.

The family of 25-year-old Bryena McQuitty, who lived in the 800 block of North Litchfield, asked in the neighborhood’s private Facebook group if they could place purple ribbons — the color representing domestic violence awareness — on trees and homes on Litchfield and in the Riverside neighborhood.

McQuitty’s boyfriend, Aaron Ray Suiter, 33, has been charged with first-degree murder. He remains jailed on $300,000 bond.

Wichita police said McQuitty and Suiter arrived home early on Nov. 26. Two other people who were home at the time told police they heard a loud argument between McQuitty and Suiter. Sometime during that argument, Wichita Police Lt. Todd Ojile said, McQuitty was assaulted.

One neighbor called 911, as did one person in the house, but it wasn’t clear if that person was Suiter or one of the other people who were in the home at the time of the assault, police said.

Her family hopes to raise awareness about domestic violence, and hundreds of Riversiders commented with their addresses and support.

On Monday, purple bows will be available for pick-up at Songbird Juice Co., 1142 Bitting, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

“Communities can be powerful agents of social justice, I ask that the community rally behind Bryena in the way of spreading awareness about domestic violence in hopes to drive change to education and policies surrounding domestic violence,” McQuitty’s sister, Krista, wrote in a public Facebook event. “This includes educating ourselves and those in our communities about healthy relationships, the dynamics of abuse, and the root causes of domestic violence.”

Of the 36 homicides in Wichita this year, police have said eight were domestic violence related.

The Wichita Family Crisis Center defines domestic violence as “a pattern of abusive and coercive behavior used to gain dominance, power and control over an intimate partner,” including physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological abuse.

In Kansas, one domestic violence incident occurred every 22 minutes and one domestic violence murder occurred every 19 days in 2016, according to a report from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

There were 7,164 incident of domestic violence reported to Sedgwick County law enforcement during that time — 6,711 of those reports were made to the Wichita Police Department.

The report also found there were 2,419 filings for protection orders in Sedgwick County, which has significantly more filings per capita than the rest of Kansas.

Emergency shelter in Sedgwick County can be reached 24-hours a day by calling 316-267-SAFE. Other information on how to get help can be found at wichitafamilycrisiscenter.org. The website includes a “Quick Escape” button at the top.

This story was originally published December 16, 2017 at 8:10 AM with the headline "Family of woman who was killed, neighbors plan purple ribbons through Riverside."