HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 01-30 Minnesota domestic violence death toll for 2013 is 37 PIONEER PRESSMinnesota domestic violence death toll for 2013: 37
By !Mara H. Gottfried mgottfried a@pioneerpress. com TwinCities, com-Pioneer Press
Posted: JAN 3 0 2014 TwinCities.com
Y.x1'S:9kvSSYfx.iY.':serfsSfif�[&x�w.Yfc� c."_x.7s5:pLUMxC c'�ux:,.b'lin?[SAYI:iiYKaxi�i.YY.,[�'�Si%>'SFY�rcx'.LW�•%4YIliCf::JGbIY,Y�'.q'XJz� if�i.V.kx'A�alw "A�YnaLe:S.nX.Kfl.KiKci:i�R N.iYSISSMii9Y]:lV Y'.x=:� xY.M'(fkAX1kL�L'bh:skFFCKYu�r�cx'H N.G:I%�V:: tYtAt6>`iiti:KYNiiY:Li.IN'.Ni�%'d.:L.Y'xY,:x•.i:iii.V i%'T.r�i4F"nFwiTdRiAlWxILLWUI:tlik'W'AK�'S�:\U: "....:.."'-'�: s"..S:rT.K:Y.K'G'A�.YGT�Artlx�.tk+yi'az4'�'Ar�A:x:� K4!'RYfIFiR�a'F R"�'dhi'��:%M�1TM� �P'A.:4' i(kib�ix[.Y.i:x�x�xxwclr4�:lx �T�lxsA6ii
There were 37 T-shirts on display Tuesday, a visual reminder of each Minnesotan killed last year
in domestic violence -related homicides. Each shirt in the Clothesline Project was decorated in
tribute to a victim.
Nancy Sullivan's shirt included a blindfolded Lady Justice, "a reminder of her career as a lawyer
and unforeseen death," said Becky Smith, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Coalition for
Battered Women.
"The moving van was in front of her Shoreview home when her live-in boyfriend shot and killed
her," Smith said.
Sullivan, 57, was in the process of moving out. National studies have found that people leaving an
abusive relationship are at increased risk of being severely harmed or killed. The Coalition for
Battered Women's own look at domestic violence -related homicides has also borne this out, Smith
said.
The coalition, which on Tuesday released its 25th annual femicide report on domestic violence -
related homicides, has found in the past few years that 87 percent of the female victims had left
the relationship or were attempting to.
Overall, the 2013 report counted at least 37 victims. Twenty-four were women and seven were
men whose killer or suspected killer was a current or past intimate partner. The remaining six were
men who were friends or family members killed in domestic violence situations, the coalition said.
"While these numbers are shocking and our collective tragedy to bear, we resist the urge to call
the 37 lives lost a trend or out of the ordinary as the number of people murdered from intimate
partner homicide has for 25 years continuously remained in the double digits, which is our greatest
tragedy of all," Smith said at a state Capitol news conference. "We must make safety a top
priority."
In 2012, the femicide report counted at least 18 victims. Fourteen were women, one was a man
and three were family members or friends or someone intervening in a domestic violence situation.
The report about last year's cases included Panhia Yang, 27, and her brother, Kong Meng Lee, 18,
Yang had obtained a restraining order against her husband, Chue Lor, after what she described as
years of abuse.
"One of the most reliable and overlooked indicators of lethality are threats by the abuser to kill the
victim," Smith said. "over half of the victims in the 2013 report experienced prior abuse."
Yang and her brother returned to the couple's St. Paul apartment to get her belongings when Lor
stabbed her and Lee to death. Lor killed himself by ingesting cyanide. The couple's four children,
ages 3 to 9, were in the apartment at the time.
Minnesota domestic violence death toil for 2013: 37 - TwinCities.com Page 2.of 2
The .youngest victim in the 2513 femicide report was 15 -year-old Anna Hurd, who -.was killed, in
Maplewood. Her then -l7 -year-old boyfriend, Anthony Joseph Mitchell Jr., was convicted of fatally
y
stabbing her.
Hurd "was attempting to break up with her boyfriend but stated she was afraid of what he might
do," Smith said. "In the weeks before Anna Hurd was killed, there was an incident in which he
bashed her kitten against her car steering wheel. A history of violence, threatening behavior and
Anna's attempts to leave her abuser at the time of her murder are all indicators of high-risk
lethality."
A number of police departments in Minnesota use lethality assessments when they are called
about domestic violence, but there are many people who aren't reached by such assessments,
said Rebekah Moses, the Coalition for Battered Women's program manager in, public policy.
v
"We know that most domestic violence survivors never come into contact with the criminal or civil
justice system," she said.
Two bills have been filed for this legislative session to "enhance victim safety and help hold
batterers accountable," Moses said.
One bill would give domestic violence victims the right to be notified about what ZIP code
offenders are living in when they are released from incarceration. The other would give law
enforcement more time to arrest domestic violence perpetrators when they have left the scene
before officers arrive; it would remove the 24-hour time limit to arrest people who don't have
warrants in misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor domestic abuse cases.
The Coalition for Battered Women also started an effort last year to bring more public awareness
to domestic violence homicides.
Organizations, individuals, businesses, schools and agencies participating can sign up to get a
notice from the coalition when a domestic violence homicide happens. Then, for a week afterward,
participants fly a "Live Free Without Violence" flag or yard sign that is available through the
coalition. People can also participate on social media with an image of the flag during this time.
People who want more information about taking part in the campaign can contact Smith at
bsmith@mcbw.org or 551-545-5177, Ext. 15.
Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 551-228-5252. Follow her at twitter.com/MaraGottfried.
GETTING HELP
Abuse victims can contact the Day one Minnesota Domestic Violence Crisis Line at 866-223-
http: //www. twinci ties - com./crime/ci-2 5 0 0 8 4 8 6/minnesota- dome stic-abuse-death-to 11-2013 -3 79IA... 1/30/2014