BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — When Princess Bowden looks back on the relationship that changed her life, one memory comes to mind.
“I remember him saying, ‘If I can’t have you, nobody can have you,’” she said.
Bowden was 22 when she found herself in what she described as a tumultuous relationship that lasted about seven months, but left permanent consequences.
Three days after she tried to end the relationship, her partner came to her home asking to come inside.
“He just wanted to come inside for a little while because his mom wasn’t home,” Bowden said. “So I said OK. He comes in. I’m in the bathroom. He’s in the front room. So I hear a click.”
When she turned around, Bowden said she saw him holding a sawed-off shotgun pointed at his neck, threatening to kill himself.
During the confrontation, Bowden said she tried to stop him from reloading the weapon.
“Because I’m telling him not to reload,” she said. “And he’s like, whatever you’re saying, I’m [going to] reload. And so it happens, so I got shot.”
Bowden was shot during a struggle over the gun, severely injuring her left arm and right hand. Complications and infections to the injured arm eventually led to her deciding to amputate her arm at the shoulder.
She said her former partner later turned himself in.
“He actually came to the hospital and told me he was sorry and that he loved me,” Bowden said. “But he didn’t receive much time — about seven or eight months.”
While Bowden lost her arm, she said she is grateful to have survived — an outcome not always seen in domestic violence cases.
According to the City of Bakersfield, homicides linked to domestic violence or interpersonal conflicts make up a larger portion of recent homicide data.
“Last year, our community lost 33 lives to homicide,” said Crystal Rubio, manager of the city’s Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention. “Regardless of the circumstances, we have to ask: what is the data telling us, and how can we respond?”
The city recently received $5 million from the California Office of Violence Prevention to support intervention strategies. According to the Bakersfield Police Department, part of that funding will go toward partnering with Lisa Barao, a criminologist with the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab.
Assistant Chief Brent Stratton said the department hopes data analysis and targeted strategies can help reduce violence.
“With the resources we have, we’ve been able to make some real reductions,” Stratton said.
Officials say the partnership will focus on identifying trends in previous domestic violence–related homicides and intervening before situations escalate.
For Bowden, the message she wants others to hear is simple: leave dangerous relationships when warning signs appear.
“You have to get out of it,” she said.
Now, more than two decades after the shooting, Bowden said she credits her parents’ relationship for helping her recognize something was wrong.
“Seeing how a relationship’s supposed to look like — like my dad and my mom and my aunties and uncles — it wasn’t,” she said. “It didn’t feel right. It didn’t look right.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the Open Door Network operates a 24-hour hotline at (661) 327-1091.
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