Before Jennifer Dulos became a household name, and before state police would determine her husband, Fotis, bludgeoned her to death in her garage, there was another Jennifer who would suffer a similar fate. In 2007, Jennifer Magnano was shot and killed in front of her children by her abusive husband after being forced by the state’s judiciary to appear in family court.

Together, the two Jennifers’ cases have become the basis for Public Act 21-78, or Jennifer’s Law, a measure overwhelmingly passed by the Connecticut General Assembly this summer that expands domestic violence law to include coercive control. The law also establishes guidelines for representation of domestic violence victims who file restraining orders.