George McDonald Jr. ordered Lizzie Garrow to get his name tattooed on her after they got married, threatening to leave her if she wouldn’t give in, her family says.
Garrow got “George” tattooed on her arm, they say, literally putting his stamp on her.
When Lizzie Garrow, a pregnant 19-year-old mother, was found dead Sunday, authorities told her family they knew it was her in part because of her tattoos.
It was a violent end to a brief marriage that was steeped in violence, her family says.
Garrow met McDonald online this spring and by July 1 they married in a local court. She was 19. He was 24.
It quickly emerged that McDonald was possessive and manipulative, Garrow’s sisters said. The relationship turned to physical abuse, they said. McDonald was charged with choking her and Garrow secured an order of protection.
“I literally begged her to leave him,” her sister Melissa Bush said.
Garrow left, only to go back to him when he said he would stop, her sisters said. She felt she needed his money and support, they said.
Garrow’s sisters, Bush and Emily Lloyd, talked this weekend with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard about their sister, her relationship with McDonald and how they feared foul play from the start.
Garrow and McDonald’s relationship started on Facebook, then led to them meeting for the first time in April or May, Bush said. McDonald brought over Twisted Tea, an alcoholic beverage, and drank with Lizzie at her family’s home in Canastota, Bush said.
“The next thing you know they were dating. He rushed everything," Bush said. “The first day, he was like, ‘I want to get married,'”
Lloyd and Bush said they were concerned for their younger sister and told her not to get married so fast.
“I told her, ‘This so crazy,’ ” Bush said.
But both sisters agreed that Garrow was going to do what she wanted, so they tried to be supportive.
Bush said she was one of two witnesses at the courthouse wedding.
“I hugged him because I didn’t know him; I welcomed him into the family. I thought he was going to treat her right," Bush said. "He was buying her everything she needed and then all of a sudden once they got married, he was beating on her every day.”
Garrow told Bush about her husband’s abuse, she said. Sometimes it was because he snapped; other times, he was possessive and manipulated her, Bush and Lloyd said.
He called Garrow vulgar, mean names and insulted her daughter, they said. He broke the baby’s crib and cut up her mattress; and he smashed two of Garrow’s phones, they said. He refused to let her go out. And when he got mad, he choked and beat her, they said.
On Sept. 8, Lizzie sent Bush a text message that said: “George choked me so badly yesterday.”
In another text message, she showed her sister photos of marks on her neck.
“He f----d me up,” Garrow wrote.
Garrow sometimes discussed the relationship on Facebook. She wrote about wanting a divorce, and shared posts about domestic violence awareness and being drawn to a toxic relationship.
In mid-September, her public posts alluding to problems with her husband became more frequent. In one, she said her partner had bought her an expensive cell phone and then broke it.
On Sept. 14, she seemed resolute about getting out of the marriage.
“I deserve to be with someone who is the reason I smile everyday,” she wrote. “Someone who genuinely makes me happy. Someone who loves my kid(s) and myself and couldn’t picture hurting us. I’ve put up with a shit ton of things in relationships but this time around, I’m not settling for less than what I deserve.”
McDonald was charged Sept. 7 with criminal obstruction of breathing, a misdemeanor. Police confirmed Garrow was the victim.
About a week later, Bush said she took Garrow to a hospital after McDonald punched her in the face. That’s when Garrow learned she was pregnant, Bush said.
Garrow went home and told McDonald they were expecting a baby. He didn’t believe his wife at first, but after she took multiple home pregnancy tests he said he was happy, Bush said. He said he wanted to make the relationship work, but he continued to beat Garrow up, Bush said.
Garrow was trying to leave and had told McDonald that, according to Bush and Lloyd. She recently got an order of protection that made it a crime for McDonald to come near her.
On Wednesday, Garrow didn’t show up to pick up her daughter. Her sisters immediately thought something wasn’t right. Garrow was always on her phone, but suddenly no one could reach her.
Bush, who had just had a baby girl, said she had just talked to her sister Wednesday. Garrow was excited to meet her niece, and told her sister to hurry up and get home so she could hold the baby. The two saw each other pretty much every day.
So when the father of Garrow’s daughter called Bush wondering where Garrow was, it didn’t make sense. Bush told him she had just talked to Garrow 39 minutes earlier. Now, no one could reach her.
“She never showed up. It’s not like her,” Bush said. “I knew something was wrong. I’m thinking: Where is she? This is unusual. She’s always online: Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook. But she hasn’t posted anything.”