x
Breaking News
More () »

Ex-girlfriend speaks out about Moline homicide

At least five women in seven years have filed orders of protection against Maurice Hines, a man who says he is a person of interest in the death of his girlfrie...

At least five women in seven years have filed orders of protection against Maurice Hines, a man who says he is a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend in Moline last week.

His former girlfriend Felicia Bradford says she still is afraid for her life after a 2011 incident, and went to court Friday, February 14, 2014 to extend an existing order of protection against Hines.

"I was beaten by him with one of my kitchen chairs, in the head. I had told him he had to get out. The next thing I know, he had a chair in his hand and all I remember is him swinging it," said Felicia Bradford, sharing pictures of her bloody, swollen eye and face from the 2011 incident.

"When I got up off the ground, I thought he was going to kill me, I thought he was going to finish me off. I remember waking up, and seeing him pacing," she recalled.

She suffered some permanent damage in her left eye, and permanent emotional scars that will never heal.

"I get really bad headaches, my eye jumps, I still have the scars," she said. "He's an angry man. He's dangerous."

"I had stitches from the top part of my eye and around, they told me my nose was fractured, bruises on my arms and back," she recounted, saying Hines dropped her off at the hospital emergency room and left. She says he broke into her house through a window a couple days later.

The abuse case went to trial and a Rock Island County jury found Hines not guilty.

"He got off, he said it was self defense", she said.

Ironically, one of the witnesses who testified for the defense on behalf of Hines, was Michelle Woods. Less than two years later, she would be found beaten to death in the apartment they shared in Moline.

Hines told a local newspaper that "he knows he's a suspect," but says he had nothing to do with his girlfriend's homicide.

To date, no one has been arrested, and police are releasing very few details, only to say that Woods died from "traumatic head and neck injuries."

"He's dangerous. I just want to know why he is walking around. Why is he free? He did it to me, now look what happened," said Bradford. "What more is it going to take?"

In 2008, Woods filed an order of protection against Hines, but let it expire.

"I ran into her (Woods) before, she had a busted mouth. She said Maurice did it," Bradford said.

"If he did do it, I want justice to be served because I don't think justice was served for my sister and her three children. I think an animal like that needs to be off the street," said Freda Matthews, Bradford's sister.

Bradford said she is afraid for her life and the safety of her kids. She says Hines is the father of her daughter, and became angry last Friday at the courthouse when Bradford received the extension on the protection order.

"He said I'm going to 'effing kill you," she said. "We were in the lobby, and that's the first thing he told me when he hit me with that chair. That he was going to 'effing kill me tonight. Those were his exact words," she said.

"I just hope the police hurry up and pick him up. It's not just me. I have three kids at home," she said.

Before You Leave, Check This Out