CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio —

A former firefighter and paramedic for two local departments is facing more than a year behind bars after pleading guilty to violence and child endangerment charges.

Some of the abuse was documented on video.

Steven Hendrickson Jr. was working as a firefighter/paramedic for the Deerfield Township fire department in Warren County and Stonelick Township fire department in Clermont County.

Hendrickson Jr. plead guilty to felony aggravated assault, child endangerment and domestic violence last week. He was previously indicted on five charges.

Hendrickson Jr. resigned from Stonelick Township Fire Department within the last several months. He resigned from Deerfield Township Fire Department more recently, within the last several weeks. The department previously placed him on administrative leave. Exact dates were not immediately available Wednesday.

Nicole Hempleman said her now ex-boyfriend wanted the two to appear happy to others and that nothing was going on between them. She gave birth to their baby girl last year.

"When he hit me, I looked down at Annabelle and I couldn't grow up letting her think that was normal," Hempleman said. "She would grow up thinking that is love, and that is not anywhere near close. You don't do that to somebody you love."

She said Hendrickson Jr. hurt her and threatened her life on multiple occasions in their Clermont County home.

She called 911 after an incident on October 7 and believes two incidents recorded on camera are the reason Hendrickson Jr. pleaded guilty.

Her motion-censored surveillance camera caught Hendrickson Jr. knocking Hempleman's phone from her hand while she was in a pack and playing with their daughter. The video then appears to show him lifting Hempleman up and hitting her.

The baby starts to cry, and Hempleman is seen on camera immediately calling 911. Court records said during that time, Hendrickson Jr. left the room and came back with a gun.

Hempleman said she started documenting her abuse and took a video about a month earlier showing Hendrickson holding their baby and telling Hempleman to stop recording her.

"Put your phone away. I'm (expletive) holding the baby. Stop recording me. You're going to lose it," Hendrickson said. "Put it down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

What happens next is too violent to show. Hempleman leaves the room with her phone still recording. Within six seconds, Hempleman screams and is then seen in a chokehold.

"You don't understand what it's like unless you're there living it and the fear and the way that people get into your head," Hempleman said. "The feeling of getting out and getting mental help, going and getting therapy and all that stuff, it's so relieving. I'm a completely different person now. It turns you into something you're not."

Hendrickson Jr. is set to be sentenced next month. He faces a maximum of a year and a half in jail. Hempleman was in court the day Hendrickson Jr. plead guilty.

"For so long he told me nobody is going to believe you. Nobody is gonna believe you. I'm a firefighter," Hempleman said. "Hearing that guilty plea, it was almost like I was finally heard."

"When we lost Nicole, Nicole did not just lose her life, a child lost his mother, a family lost their daughter, sister — friends lost someone dear to them and the community lost a very valuable member," Nicole’s twin brother Eddie Montalvo said.

Investigators say Nicole Montalvo was dismembered and buried on a St. Cloud, Florida, property owned by her estranged husband, Christopher Otero-Rivera and his father, Angel Rivera, in 2019.

The two were sentenced to life in prison.

"Nicole and I are twins. Growing up, we were best friends," Eddie Montalvo said.

In an exclusive interview with Nicole's twin brother Eddie, he remembers some of his favorite things about her.

"Nicole had no concerns about what she enjoyed in life and what she liked. She was very stubborn, as many of us in the family are, but it was such a beautiful stubbornness the way she was," Eddie Montalvo said. "She was also a really good friend. To anybody who was friends with Nicole, how lucky you were and how lucky you are to have those memories with her."

He also details how domestic violence became evident in her and Otero-Rivera's relationship.

"The murder and the egregious violence from it, it was so difficult to endure through, but we had been losing Nicole for some time as well too. That's domestic violence. That's what happens," Eddie Montalvo said.

He says local resources were there to help.

"Organizations like Help Now of Osceola were there for Nicole and they were there to help her after the first incidents of violence, after she was kidnapped and assaulted," Eddie Montalvo said.

Eddie Montalvo and his family have made it their mission to raise awareness of domestic violence by partnering with Help Now and sharing Nicole’s story. They're also raising awareness with the unveiling of a mural outside Nicole's former workplace in downtown Kissimmee.

Her sister Christina Montalvo now works with Help Now and led the initiative to remember Nicole through artwork.

"I hope she's proud, I know she is, I know she's with me. I wish she was here, but this is a great way to honor her and have her close near me," Christina Montalvo said.

The mural is covered with purple ribbons representing the color of domestic violence awareness and a variety of butterflies. It's something the family hopes serves as a reminder that love should not hurt.

"Whatever experience of abuse and violence you may be going through, it's not warranted. It's not deserved. Love should not hurt. You are a human being that deserves respect and consent and treatment of the fairest form. So, we will be there, waiting patiently, and waiting with open arms to make sure that you are safe and we will be there afterward, too," Eddie Montalvo said.

Watch the video above to learn more about this story.

BATESVILLE, Ind. — In what law enforcement officials are calling a possible case of self-defense, a juvenile shot and killed a 46-year-old man inside a Batesville apartment on Monday.

Officers responded to Canterbury Apartments at approximately 8 a.m. to find the deceased man shot in the chest.

Witnesses at the scene told investigators the juvenile shot the man, who was allegedly armed with a knife and attacking the juvenile's mother.

Both the child and his mother are cooperating with authorities, and the Franklin County prosecutor said he would not pursue criminal charges until police complete their investigation.

"After consulting with Prosecutor (Chris) Huerkamp, Chief (Stan) Holt and he agreed that because of the strong initial evidence of the justifiable use of deadly force, neither the juvenile nor his mother should be further detained or placed under formal arrest at this time," read a joint statement from Batesville Police and the prosecutor's office.

According to Huerkamp, under Indiana Law, "a person: (1) is justified in using deadly force; and; (2) does not have a duty to retreat, if that person reasonably believes that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony."

Authorities have not released the identities of any of the individuals involved.

MILWAUKEE —

Milwaukee Police said a man was shot and killed on Christmas Eve, just after 10:00 p.m., while he was trying to prevent a domestic violence situation.

Police said they have not arrested the shooter.

Police said the victim was a 48-year-old man.

Police and neighbors told sister station WISN there had been a domestic dispute earlier on Christmas Eve in an apartment building in Riverwest. The victim was reportedly inside the suspected shooter's girlfriend's apartment upstairs, trying to protect her, when the suspect walked in and shot him.

Police said the man died on the scene.

Milwaukee Police said the case is still under investigation.

According to the Milwaukee Health Department Office of Violence Prevention, this Christmas Eve incident marks 189 homicides in Milwaukee in 2020. This time last year, there were 96 homicides.

Their data, which has tracked domestic violence through July of 2020, also shows domestic violence cases spike significantly during the holidays.

Reggie Moore, director of the Office of Violence Prevention, said the pandemic, and stress that has gone along with it, has led to a large increase in domestic violence cases in 2020.

CLEVELAND — More than 70,000 tubes of lipstick have been shipped to 200 domestic violence shelters across all 50 states.

The lipstick comes from Find Your Fabulosity, a nonprofit organization.

Sheyrl Kurland started the organization five years ago while she was volunteering at a domestic violence shelter.

“I just kept looking at these women, and I kept thinking, how can I make these women feel like women again?” said Kurland.

That’s when she remembered something her mother said.

“Sheryl, if you want to feel better, put on a little lipstick,” Kurland said.

She decided to buy 25 tubes of lipstick and gave them away.

“It’s like I took a magic wand to the room and all the pain lifted,” said Kurland.

That was the catalyst for the nonprofit, Kurland said.

This story was first reported by Tracy Carloss on news5cleveland.com.