March 3, 2025 – Longmeadow, Massachusetts – Sophomore students at Longmeadow High School attended a unique presentation by the Hampden District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, February 26 – a 30-minute documentary created in memory of Kathryn Mauke, a Springfield teen who was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2015.

The presentation is part of the “1 in 11: Preventing Dating Violence” program the Hampden District Attorney Office’s offers through its Community Safety and Outreach Unit (CSO).

“Nearly one in 11 female high school students, and one in 14 male high school students have reported experiencing physical dating violence. There is no doubt that teens are at a high risk, and that abuse happens more often than we’d like to believe. However, if you know the warning signs, you’re better equipped to protect yourself, and those around you from abuse,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni states at the start of the documentary.

Over 200 students watched the video, first hearing from members of the DA’s CSO team, who discussed the circumstances of Kathryn’s case.

As shown in the film, Kathryn was known for being a spitfire. She was an accomplished member of the Oxbow Water Ski Show team – standing at the top of the four-tier pyramid – she was passionate about politics, and as a result of her participation on the American International College’s Model Congress through Sabis International Charter School, she received a full scholarship to AIC. Kathryn’s mother described her as outgoing, charismatic, and intentional with her schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

Over the course of her high school career, Kathryn began dating a person a few years older than her, on and off.

“I knew he was into things that I didn’t want my sister getting into. Not terrible things, but just like, smoking weed and doing extra curriculars that weren’t something I did and weren’t something I wanted my sister to do. For those reasons, I told her to stay away from him right off the bat, but who’s going to listen to their older sister? Especially when it’s about a guy,” Kathryn’s sister Ashley Mauke shared in the film.

Eventually, Kathryn broke up with the boyfriend and started dating someone else. She shared with a friend that the ex-boyfriend was having a difficult time coping with her new relationship. She confided in her mother that she told her ex-boyfriend she didn’t want to be with him anymore, but that she wanted him to be happy.

“I really don’t want to be with him, but I don’t want to hurt him,” mother Jennifer Mauke recalled Kathryn telling her.

Even after friends reached out to the ex-boyfriend asking him to stop calling and texting Kathryn, he persisted and escalated, and exhibited emotionally controlling behavior toward his ex-girlfriend.

Feeling under the weather, on February 11, 2015, Kathryn decided to stay home from school. Her ex-boyfriend attempted to contact her from his workplace, upon which time Kathryn told him she was staying home sick that day, and that the relationship was over.

Later that day, Kathryn’s sister Mariah Mauke came home from school, and found Kathryn in a pool of blood, stabbed 32 times.

In partnership with the Mauke family, the devastating passing of Kathryn serves as an opportunity for the Hampden District Attorney’s office to educate students about dating violence and prevent future tragedies.

Following the documentary, the students were educated on how to prevent escalating dating abuse and its warning signs, which include: excessive calling and texting as to whereabouts, isolation from family and friends, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, threatening violence toward a partner or oneself, withholding money or credit cards, seeking control, and the use of alcohol, drug use, or stress as excuses for their behaviors.

The Hampden District Attorney’s CSO team provided fliers with free resources, dating violence warning signs, and more information to the district to place inside bathroom stalls and in other discreet locations within the High School.