New Jersey State Police Lt. Ricardo Santos is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and the man she’d been dating before taking his own life earlier this month.

Lauren Semanchik’s family has said she feared for her safety before she was killed earlier this month. But local police would not help her, her family says.

Now that story is resonating with others who say they were victims of similar abuse.

Shonda Tamaro told NJ Spotlight News she was a victim of domestic abuse by her husband, Toms River Police Officer Victor Tamaro. Shonda Tamaro said she is now seeking a divorce.

Shonda Tamaro, 48 and with two daughters, said her estranged husband subjected them to psychological and economic abuse while they shared their home in the Ocean County community of Beachwood.

She said he made her fearful, by locking up shared resources and monopolizing economic assets. And she also alleged her estranged husband has been shielded by law enforcement because of his employment as a police officer.

Victor Tamaro and his attorney told NJ Spotlight News they would not comment on pending legal matters since the divorce litigation continues.

Shonda Tamaro said it wasn’t until she and her daughters received help from a domestic violence advocacy group that they were able to move out.

The alleged abuse finally stopped, but by then, Shonda Tamaro said, she’d made numerous reports with the Beachwood Police Department and filed nine requests for a restraining order. All were turned down.

“When we first moved back, he changed the code to the garage so we couldn’t get in. He removed my access to the cable and then he removed the access to the internet,” she said. “He’s got this wooden fortress that he built around the internet router and changed the password, so now we don’t have access.

“He closed out our joint bank accounts,” she said. “He cashed out our stocks. And all of this time, my attorneys [were] sending letters, saying, ‘Your client keeps canceling things, closing things out, and it’s got to stop.’ And it just kept continuing.”

Shonda Tamaro also stated she made repeated reports to local police. “They basically were protecting their brother in blue. Like, they just didn’t seem to really take my or validate my concerns.”

“I was in fear,” she said. “We slept with pushing our nightstands in front of the doors because even when I was reporting these incidents, the police department wasn’t forwarding these complaints to Toms River,” she alleged. “They know what they’re supposed to do. But again, they’re just trying to protect him. All along, me and my daughters have to be mentally and physically exhausted by his actions.”

Beachwood Police Chief Daniel Altman said in a statement: “We recognize the gravity of all matters involving domestic violence. Out of respect for the privacy and safety of those involved, we cannot release specific details on this case. We can confirm, however, that any time a person who meets the classification of a domestic violence victim contacts our department and requests to apply for a restraining order they are provided that opportunity, and that was no different in this case.”

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office stated: “To suggest that the Beachwood Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office failed to properly investigate these allegations is simply untrue. It should be noted that our investigation into this matter was also reviewed by the [state] Attorney General’s Office. With regard to whether a Restraining Order should have been issued in this case, the Prosecutor’s Office has absolutely no involvement in that process. The decision to grant or deny a Temporary or Final Restraining Order lies exclusively with the courts.”

The Toms River Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

State Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Morris) said she’s gotten an overwhelming response to legislation she introduced to revise the definition of domestic violence to include psychological and economic abuse.

Dunn said she is hoping that more specific instructions would give judges clear legal direction to grant requests for restraining orders based on actions that cause “fear or serious alarm or distress, that has a substantial adverse impact on a person’s daily activities.”