Minnesota records most deaths due to intimate partner violence in a decade, coalition says
There have been more domestic violence-related deaths this year in Minnesota than the state has seen in a single year in a decade, according to a statewide coalition that’s been tracking the statistic for more than 30 years.
Joe Shannon, the communications program manager for Violence Free Minnesota, said there have been 34 victims of intimate partner violence in Minnesota in 2023 as of Monday. The list includes romantic partners — mostly women — bystanders and people who tried to intervene.
“Thirty-four, you know, it almost is once a week. It’s about one every nine or 10 days,” Shannon said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
It’s the second-most deaths the coalition has recorded since beginning to track the statistic in 1989, and two of them were reported by law enforcement on Sunday.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Monday confirmed a Minnesota woman died on Sunday night after a domestic disturbance in Marshall early that morning. According to a press release from Marshall police on Sunday, an officer saw the woman “being actively stabbed” before an officer shot and killed her assailant.
Later, Minneapolis police said a woman, 43, was fatally shot inside an apartment on Sheridan Avenue South. According to police, initial indications are that the shooting was a “domestic-related incident between the [woman] and her live-in domestic male partner.”
The suspect has not been arrested and is believed to be on the run, an MPD spokesperson confirmed on Monday.
“One in three women have experienced some form of intimate partner violence at some point in their life,” Shannon emphasized. “So you may not even realize it, but you do know someone.”
It’s unclear why there would have been a spike in the number of deaths this year, he said, adding, he is sure there has been an increase in the severity of the cases reported since 2020.
“Very unimaginable,” he described. “Things you would only think about in horror movies or, you know, action movies. But this is someone doing it to their partner in the state we live in.”
It’s important to note that some cases Violence Free Minnesota counts include incidents where a partner has been accused of the victim’s death but has not had their day in court yet.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.