Michigan mother of 3 survives abusive relationship, offers support to inspire others

That victim is stepping forward and telling her story -- something she says everyone needs to hear.

We want to warn you, some content is disturbing.

The video is horrifying. The prey narrowly escaping her predator. This is a story of survival and it belongs to Mary Teske.

"He was my first boyfriend and he was so sweet and wonderful," Mary Teske tells Crime Watch Daily. "Kane and I met when we were 13 or 14 years old, and we weren't supposed to be dating, and I started secretly seeing him."

Like a modern day "Romeo and Juliet" for Mary Teske and Kane Reeves, it was an "us against the world" feeling.

And over time, the happy couple grew to a family of five. But Mary says despite what appeared to be nine years of bliss, it was a year into their relationship when the Kane she fell in love with started showing a very different private side.

"It started with the verbal, and then I believe the first actual physical incident was when I was pregnant and he shoved me out of frustration, and apologized to me immensely and was hugging me and crying and he 'didn't mean to push me that hard,' and he 'would never do anything like that,'" said Mary Teske.

Forgiving Kane in the beginning was easy.

"Because he made me believe it was a onetime incident and it wasn't gonna happen again," said Teske.

But it would happen again, and it was escalating, his rage spilling out from behind closed doors.

"There were so many different incidences. One of the times he ended up slitting all four of my car tires, broke out my windshield, was stalking me all over to my workplace, to my parents', my home," said Mary.

Mary says a monster had emerged.

"He became violent, threatening to burn down my home, to kidnap my children, to kill me, to kill himself," said Mary. "He hadn't physically beaten me up but he had done other things: Shoving me, putting his hand up to my throat to intimidate me while he screamed in my face, definitely scary intimidation."

Mary says she'd call the police, then never follow through.

"I recanted my statements multiple times, or if he was charged, I didn't press it as hard as it needed to be because I was trying to forgive him and hoped he would get help," said Mary.

But he wasn't changing. So Mary Teske got a restraining order -- not that Kane Reeves cared.

"He said 'That's just a piece of paper, that's not gonna do anything,'" said Mary.

Mary says she tried leaving Kane many times, but there were always serious consequences for that. Each attempt would bring escalating violence.

"I was very fear-driven, so I stayed with him and thought maybe I could just put up with it," said Mary. "I mean I did love him, I did want to help him and change hime. I wanted to be a family, I didn't want to break our family apart. But it was more fear than anything, was the reason I stayed."

Then after years of emotional, psychological and physical terror, Mary says she finally got the courage to make a break away from Kane -- forever.

But first she needed to go back to the house to pick up a few belongings. Should be safe: Kane was supposed to be out of town.

"I get out my vehicle and I have my two daughters in my arms and I open the door. Immediately I'm just thrown to the ground, smashing my face in, the children are thrown and flung from my arms," said Mary.

Kane had broken in and was there lying in wait with revenge on his mind.

"I remember going in and out of consciousness," said Mary. "I was able to push him off of me and grab the girls and run outside. He grabbed the keys from me and threw me back to the ground, continued to beat my face in and smash my head into the ground, and was choking me."

It was fight or flight.

"Somehow I mustered up the strength to throw him off me and ran screaming into the middle of the road, covered in blood, arms waving for a passerby, a vehicle I saw coming, to stop their car," said Mary. "They pulled over. They didn't get out of the car."

Then like a terrifying scene from a horror film:

"He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me all the way back inside," said Mary.

Michigan mother Mary Teske knew she had to get away from the father of her three children. His physical abuse had become increasingly more violent. So on a day when she believed he was out of town, she made her move. Unfortunately he had a plan of his own.

Mary Teske, 22, was in the fight of her life. And her two youngest children are there watching their father Kane Reeves brutally beat their mother senseless.

"I remember thinking I was gonna die laying there on the floor as he was smashing my head down to the ground, and my face, I could hear the crunching of the bones," Mary Teske tells Crime Watch Daily.

As Kane continued to pummel Mary with all his might, he told her he was making good on his promise.

"He was saying '[----], I'm going to kill you, I warned you. I told you you're not going to be with anyone else,'" said Mary.

Unbeknownst to Mary, help is on the way. The people in the car she had waved down just moments before had called 911. As police pull into the driveway, dashboard-camera footage captures the scene of abject terror.

"I was trying to rip out of his arms, and just came flying to the police officers, just ran with everything I had," said Mary.

Kane, in a state of rage, was footsteps behind. The police officer stops him and detains him. In minutes, Kane is in handcuffs, unable to throw another debilitating punch.

Now that he's been caught, the man who just minutes before said he was going to kill her, says: "Mary, I'm sorry baby! I love you! I'm so [----] sorry."

It's too late for the impassioned pronouncements of love.

"Once I knew I was safe, my children were going to be safe, and just all the pain hit me and I think I had passed out at that point," said Mary.

Kane Reeves is charged with assault with intent to murder and felony home invasion. The vicious attack surprisingly took only five minutes -- but the damage done in that time was severe.

"I had seven broken bones in my face, I had to have facial reconstructive surgery, but the physical heals much faster than the emotional," said Mary Teske.

And so much of it was a blur.

"I remember when we went back to the crime scene, there were bloody hand prints all over the walls and the refrigerator, and even upstairs -- I don't recall even going upstairs," said Mary. "I don't. I remember just trying to desperately get away from him and crawl away."

Several months later, the case went to trial. But for Mary, testifying against the former love of her life wasn't easy.

"It was extremely intimidating and scary, but I knew I had to tell the truth of what he did to me," said Mary. "However, I still struggled with feeling guilt and questioning whether I was doing the right thing because I was ending our family."

Kane Reeves was found guilty of all charges and sentenced 17 to 40 years in prison.

Then two months later, a twist no one sawing coming, on their son's 7th birthday.

"He ended up committing suicide," Mary tells Crime Watch Daily.

Kane Reeves took his own life, hanging himself with his prison sheets. Mary Teske says his suicide brought a roller coaster of emotions. She was sad, angry, and then eventually, relieved.

"I didn't tie that noose around his neck, I did not kill him," said Mary. "Once I was finally able to accept that I was not responsible for his death, it was relief."

Today, Mary says she's now in a happy and healthy relationship. She's learned a lot about herself after what she endured, and ultimately survived.

She has a serious message for anyone who finds them self in a similar situation:

"I want to tell all women and men, whoever's in any kind of abusive relationship: Don't keep making excuses for them," said Mary. "As soon as you see any warning signs, get out immediately before it's too late. If I could save anyone from going through what I have, if my story can inspire even one young lady to get out of an abusive relationship, it's worth it."

One in four women and one in seven men will experience relationship abuse in their lifetime. Not only does this affect the victim/survivor, but also children, parents, friends and other concerned family members. One call to The National Domestic Violence Hotline costs about $20 to answer. Through Crime Watch Daily and the support of our viewers, we can help ensure that when a survivor is ready to speak, someone at The Hotline is here to listen.

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