The family of Melinda Jolly, a mother of four who police say was killed last week by an abusive boyfriend in her Marietta home, is raising funds for her children and their new caretakers — Jolly’s brother and his family.
Tommy Jolly and his wife Stacey will be caring for Melinda Jolly’s three children in addition to five of their own, according to the GoFundMe page.
The fundraiser is organized by Melinda’s sister Pamela Jolly and has raised more than $20,000 toward a $50,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.
Melinda Jolly moved to Georgia with her four children after her husband Dirk Van Donselaar died of cancer in 2019, according to the fundraising post.
She was pregnant with twin boys at the time Van Donselaar was diagnosed, and they were born shortly before he died, Pamela Jolly wrote.
Melinda Jolly and Van Donselaar also had a daughter together, and Jolly had a son from before her marriage to Van Donselaar. He is now an adult.
Pamela Jolly said in the post that she and her mother, who live in California, recently learned Melinda was in an abusive relationship and had been calling the Cobb Police Department to request that they make welfare checks to Melinda’s home on Perch Drive.