This article contains information about domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 for free, 24/7 support. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call RAINN's national sexual assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for confidential support. 

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — A Wisconsin native who lost both her parents to domestic violence is sharing her story, in hopes that others learn from her family’s loss.

Data shows every five days, someone in Wisconsin dies from domestic violence-related causes. 

Angelina Schnook grew up in the Eau Claire area. When asked about her mom, she took a big deep breath in as a smile grew across her face. 

“My mom… she was such an amazing person,” Schnook said.

Her mom, Karie Lantz, was her best friend. 

Karie worked two jobs for most of Schnook's childhood, including at Pizza Hut.  

“In college, I actually worked at Pizza Hut as a waitress as a part-time job,” Schnook said. “And honestly, I did it so I would get free pizza, and so we could work together.” 

Karie was involved in all the kids’ activities. Schnook has no idea how she had so much time and energy. 

Her dad Dean Lantz provided everything he could for Schnook and her four siblings. 

“He worked 70-plus hours a week; he did construction, landscaping, snow removal, then he worked odd jobs,” she said. “Every trip we took cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. I did figure skating; my older brothers played hockey. My younger brother did traveling soccer. That’s a lot of money. That had to come from somewhere. And it came from my dad.” 

In 2017, Dean and Karie had been separated for about two years. Dean had seemed to move on, he was engaged to someone else. But around the time Karie finally filed divorce papers, something seemed to shift in Dean. 

“Just the obsessive, the controlling, the semi-stalkerish behavior,” Schnook said. “While it was new, and we hadn't seen it before, it was more dangerous than we thought.” 

In February 2017, Dean shot and killed Karie, then himself. 

“It’s not just losing my mom and the mother figure, it’s… I lost my best friend,” Schnook said. “We talked every day. We saw each other two, three times a week. We went to the gym together; we did crafts together. My sister was in middle school at the time, so she still had all those activities that we would go to together. So I lost that part of me.” 

Saying their kids were shocked would be an understatement. While Dean seemed like maybe he was experiencing some sort of mental health issue very recently before their deaths, he had never, ever been violent. He had also never owned a gun. 

But as Schnook got more and more involved in advocacy, she got a chance to talk through her parents’ case with police officers and advocates. She realized some of the signs were there, and her family just didn’t know how serious they could be, or what to do about them. 

“There's no way she didn't know that her life was in danger. She just didn't know how to connect behavior that my dad was exhibiting, to, this is where it could lead,” Schnook said. 

Angelina has been involved with domestic violence awareness work through End Abuse Wisconsin. 

She got to see Eau Claire’s crisis response team, which involves people in law enforcement and social services. They get together to discuss how they can better work together to spot these situations before they turn deadly. 

They’ve also been working on what’s called a Lethality Assessment. It’s an 11-question way for police officers to determine whether conditions could lead to a domestic violence homicide. 

Schnook said everyone should be on the lookout for those signs, because it could save a life. Even multiple lives. 

“My father could’ve gotten the help that he needed,” she said. “My goal isn’t just, could I have saved my mom? We actually could have saved both of them.” 

Since their parents’ deaths, Schnook and her husband have raised her youngest sister Breanna. She’s now in college studying photography in Colorado, where Schnook and her husband now live. 

Domestic violence doesn’t always look like it does in the movies, with one partner physically harming another. 

End Abuse Wisconsin has a directory of where to go for domestic violence help. You can find that here. 

If someone you love seems to need mental health help, this is a good place to start. If they're threatening violence or showing signs of violence, of course call 911.