VIRGINIA BEACH — About five months before she allegedly shot and killed her husband, a Virginia Beach woman took out a protective order against him, court documents show.
Breanna Laren Sullivan, 21, is accused of shooting and killing her husband, 26-year-old Antonio Sullivan, Sunday night. She is charged with second-degree murder and the use of a gun in the commission of a felony, according to Virginia Beach court officials.
The shooting was reported to the Virginia Beach Police Department around 7:15 p.m. in the 700 block of Huybert Place.
Just minutes before that, Antonio Sullivan’s girlfriend said he was texting her.
Shannan Crawford told a Southside Daily reporter that she’d been dating Antonio Sullivan since April 2016.
Although he still lived with his wife and 3-year-old daughter, Crawford said she generally spent a few hours a week with Antonio Sullivan.
She said that Antonio Sullivan stayed at the Virginia Beach home with his wife because he couldn’t afford to move out and he wanted to stay close to his daughter, but he eventually planned to leave.
Crawford also believes that Breanna Sullivan knew about their relationship.
“We were supposed to spend our lives together,” Crawford said. “Some people knew about [our relationship]. But we didn’t broadcast it. Because every time I’d post anything about him she’d find out and lash out on him.”
Crawford said she was texting her boyfriend minutes before his wife allegedly shot him. She got his last texts around 7:07 p.m. after she’d sent him a picture of herself.
One of his last texts read “…I’m lost for words how sexy you are.” When she asked him to explain what he meant, he wrote, “In its own way thats [sic] me explaining.”
Crawford said she didn’t hear anything from him after that and she began to worry. Thinking he’d fallen asleep, she went to bed herself. When she woke up and there was still no message from him, she called his phone.
It went to voicemail.
That’s when she began to worry. A search on the internet showed her what she did not want to believe: He was dead.
Crawford said that Antonio and Breanna Sullivan had a complicated and volatile relationship. While the couple was emotionally separated in Antonio Sullivan’s mind, Crawford doesn’t believe his wife thought the marriage was over.
Documents filed in Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Court tell a complicated story as well.
Some of the physical documents in the Sullivan family’s court file were not available because they were in the judge’s chambers; however, Southside Daily was able to obtain documents filed against Antonio Sullivan in the last year.
Since July 4, 2016, documents show that the Sullivan family were in and out of the Virginia Beach courthouse with an assault and battery charge, emergency protective orders and a dispute over child support.
Antonio Sullivan was charged with assault and battery of his wife three times in total, although each charge was nolle prossed, or dropped with the possibility of reinstatement. His wife also filed two emergency protective orders against him and five protective orders.
A protective order filed on Feb. 24 shows that Breanna Sullivan accused her husband of assaulting her.
According to the order, Antonio Sullivan choked his wife and held a knife up to her throat. The court also found that he had a “long history” of domestic violence “including one hospitalization” of his wife.
At one time, Breanna suffered a concussion due to the fighting, court documents show.
In another court document, dated Feb. 11, Breanna Sullivan was given temporary sole custody of the couple’s young daughter, and Antonio Sullivan was ordered not to have contact with his daughter except for supervised visitation with a professional.
He was also ordered to attend a “batterer’s intervention program,” although it is not clear if that was enforced or if he attended the class.
The Feb. 24 protective order was dissolved by Breanna Sullivan on March 22.
A temporary child support protective order also mandated that starting on March 10 Antonio Sullivan would have to pay his wife $326.31 every two weeks to support his daughter.
Crawford said that while she wasn’t physically around when her boyfriend and his wife fought, he admitted to hitting Breanna Sullivan; however, he also said that his wife hit him, too.
“I know for a fact he wasn’t happy,” Crawford said.
Breanna Sullivan was never charged with anything in the Virginia Beach JDR court until Monday.
Rene Kauffman, a long-time friend of Breanna Sullivan, said the 21-year-old woman came to her home for shelter after a fight with her husband.
“If it truly is her, it was self-defense,” Kauffman said to a Southside Daily reporter via Facebook. “I’ve seen the marks and bruises on her.”
Kauffman said she wasn’t sure when the couple had been married, but that it was before their daughter was born.
“From what she told me, the abuse was going on before she got pregnant,” she said. “But she loved him.”
Crawford said that Antonio Sullivan was a funny and sweet man who never treated her poorly.
“He never treated me badly and was such a great father to his daughter,” Crawford said. “He was just in a situation that was hard to get out of … I will always miss and love him.”
Editor’s note: Breanna Sullivan declined to be interviewed for this story.
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