Domestic violence victims changing their stories is not uncommon, SAFE Alliance says

Texas men's basketball coach Chris Beard could face felony domestic family violence charges involving his fiancé, Randi Trew.

On Dec. 12, police arrived at Beard's home after Trew told police Beard strangled her and bit her. Days later in a statement, she denied the claim.

"When domestic violence cases go public is that the spotlight really focuses on the victim, and that never feels good," says Nikhita Ved, with SAFE alliance.

Nikhita Ved says it's not uncommon for victims to change their stories after reporting domestic abuse.

"No matter what your situation is or what level of notoriety you may have. This is about your family and about someone that you love and about yourself. And so, there are a lot of feelings that may be involved here," says Ved.

In the statement, Trew says she never intended for Beard to be arrested or prosecuted. According to the arrest affidavit, Beard and Trew were already having relationship issues.

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"Domestic violence usually doesn't start off from a place of escalated physical violence. There is a lot of research and data that shows that domestic violence actually starts out through power and control, through nonphysical mechanisms," says Ved.

Now, when do you know when to step out of the relationship?

"Difference between an unhealthy relationship and an abusive relationship is that power and control dynamic over and over and over again, where you have one person who clearly has the power in the relationship and the other person isn't able to ascertain their needs or their wants or their boundaries," says Ved.

Ved says domestic violence cases can take months to investigate.

"The district attorney's office trying to make their case there could be providing support to the victim in the interim. And so that could last anywhere, again, from a few weeks to several months, even over a year," says Ved.

If you are in need of domestic violence resources, click here. SAFE offers 24 hours a day, seven day a week hotline that has live phone calls, texts, and chats at 512-267-7233.