Jackie Coleman was only 19 years old when her life tragically ended at the hands of her fiance.

Jackie met Austin Gaus through an online dating website in December of 2018. After only 4 days of dating, she moved in with him. They progressed from being total strangers to engaged one month later. Quickly the control and manipulation grew. She wasn’t allowed to have her own phone, she was isolated from her family, and by February 2019 he moved her cities away from home. The relationship was immediately laced with his jealousy, isolation, control, and eventually threats of suicide.

Despite warnings by family, Jackie seemed mesmerized by the superficial sense of being loved, something so many long for. She began to shape her life in an attempt to make him happy- and it was clear her self worth was being greatly affected in the process... Diary entries from Jackie’s time with her abuser give insight to the pain she was feeling. She spoke of loneliness and depression. She spoke of feeling insecure and feeling unworthy of attention from her partner, even worrying that her need for reassurance might come across as clingy. In one of her diary entries she writes “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if I just died from a broken heart, literally. I’d rather have that kill me to show other people how much they really did hurt me than killing myself…”. It was clear the toll the relationship was having on her was deeply affecting her, but she struggled in isolation and silence writing that she’s “pretty good at faking being fine on the outside.” She prayed to God in her diaries asking for him to hear her cries and to bring her strength…

Finally that April, Jackie regretted not heeding the advice given before and had finally decided to leave. Regrettably, however, when she tried to leave 2 weeks later, Austin shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself. Jackie was only 19 years old... and pregnant.

Jackie’s WAR was founded by Jackie’s mother, Charla Coleman in an effort to help girls like Jackie recognize the signs of abuse before things take a turn for the worse and to help those in situations similar to Jackie’s to find the help and resources they need to escape becoming another statistic of domestic abuse.