‘My walks are so lonely now’ Daughter and sibling of domestic violence victims work for change

For more than a year, Sophie Pariseau's daily walks have felt solitary.

Since she moved to California, she and her late mother, Sima Setian Pariseau, chatted on the phone regularly on their respective walks — Sima on the East Coast and Sophie on the West.

Their ritual was cut short last year after her mother and brother were killed in an unimaginable act of domestic violence. Sima Pariseau's live-in boyfriend fatally shot her and her son Dylan, before turning the gun on himself. Police found three bodies at their home in Wilbraham on June 18, 2024.

Sophie Parisea u feels the pangs of her loss every hour, every minute of the day.

"My walks are so lonely now," she said during an interview the Greater Springfield YWCA on Wednesday.

There, she and her father announced that she and their loved ones had harnessed their grief for a cause. They managed to raise more than $100,000 through a 3.3K "Miles for Change" walk at Wilbraham's Fountain Park, nearly a year to the day her mother and brother were gunned down.

Six hundred people attended the walk.

Dylan Pariseau and his mother, Sima Setian Pariseau, attend a Father's Day picnic Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in Indian Orchard. Law enforcement officials say they were killed by Sima Pariseau's domestic partner, Peter Donaldson, who later died by suicide. (Photo courtesy of the St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church)Staff

Sima Pariseau's death puts a painfully fine point on findings from a recent study released by the Violence Policy Center. It found more than 2,400 women were killed by men in 2023 and of those, 89.9% knew their killers. Guns were used in 64.9% of the attacks, the study concluded.

"Of the victims who knew their offenders, 57.1 percent were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. Nearly nine times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers," the study found.

Sima Pariseau's live-in partner, Peter Donaldson, was an avid outdoorsman, friends said, and thus had a cache of guns and rifles. It is unknown exactly what preceded the shootings, but Donaldson had been struggling with deep depression, family and friends say.

Sima and Dylan Pariseau were set to fly out to the West Coast to visit Sophie and go on a family hike. Sophie became concerned when her mother and brother weren't responding to texts or calls. She sent her father, Mark Pariseau, to their home on Main Street.

The utter silence began to concern him as he sat in the driveway on that steamy summer day.

"I didn't think the worst, at first, but that changed," Mark Pariseau said.

Sophie Pariseau, organizer of the Miles for Change and her father, Mark Pariseau at the YWCA of Western Massachusetts headquarters in Springfield. They raised more than $100,000 through a "Miles for Change" walk at Wilbraham's Fountain Park, with the money benefiting children who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook

The couple had been married for 20 years and divorced amicably, still speaking on the phone several times a week.

Investigators determined the three had been dead for two days.

Although the scenario seemed improbable at the time, Sophie and her father said, in retrospect, perhaps the signs were there.

"I loved him," Sophie said of Donaldson, adding that she remains close with his children.

Mark Pariseau admits he is still angry, and longs for his son. But the tragedy made the bond between him and Sophie stronger.

"I live for my daughter now," he said.

In terms of the relationship with the YWCA, Sophie says she chose the charity because of its focus on domestic violence victims. She was led there by family friend Theresa Finnegan.

YWCA CEO Elizabeth Dineen called Sophie "a force of nature" and said the windfall from the charity walk will directly benefit children who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence.

"This was completely foreign to us," Mark Pariseau said. "I don't understand, because I've never wanted to hurt anyone or hurt myself."

But Sophie said mental illness is something many people cannot understand.

Based on the success of their fundraising efforts, she and her father plan to establish a foundation.

"I don't want Sima's and Dylan's names to disappear," Mark Pariseau said.

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