PORTLAND (AP) – Family and friends of a woman who died from severe injuries police say her boyfriend caused contend that she was not adequately protected by the court system.

Five siblings of Lisa Deprez, 42, held a news conference Wednesday to ask the state to form a commission to make changes to the legal system that would deny bail to someone arrested on domestic violence charges.

Deprez’s one-time boyfriend Gregory Erskine was charged with her murder.

Westbrook police had gone to the couple’s apartment more than a dozen times in the past two years, said her brother Shaun Deprez. Erskine also had a previous domestic violence conviction.

“There should be zero tolerance,” Deprez said.

On May 7, Erskine was arrested for threatening to kill Lisa Deprez with a knife. He was released under the condition that he have no contact with her.

Police Chief Michael Chitwood said Deprez took Erskine back and did not call authorities. On May 13, police say Erskine beat Deprez unconscious at her apartment. She died two days later.

Caroline Deprez, a sister, said she would like to see Maine require mandatory education programs for both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse.

“We don’t want her death to be in vain. We as a family pray this will be a wake-up call to the other abuse victims,” she said.

Advocates who fight domestic violence prevention say tragedies sometimes result in changes in state law and better training for police officers.

Lois Galgay Reckitt, executive director of Family Crisis Center, told Perez’s family that the death of Rita Colucci in 1992 helped convince lawmakers that a commission was needed to review failures in the system.

“I want them not only to show up for trial, but their victim to be alive when they do,” Reckitt said.

Shalom Odokara, executive director of Women In Need Inc., said her agency will send representatives to court every time Erskine is scheduled to appear.

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