169 a day: Reports of domestic violence in Tennessee reach tens of thousands each year
Editor's note: This story is part of a series on domestic violence. Other stories in this series focus on the impact of COVID-19, the judicial system and legal process, issues related to child abuse and the psychology of abusers. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Lying on the bathroom floor of her home, the woman said she clearly remembered thinking she was going to die after suffering hours of physical abuse at the hands of a loved one.
“I knew no one was looking (for me), no one was expecting me that day anywhere,” she said. “I knew no one would find me right away. And that’s how my family is going to find me. They would have found me dead, and that would have been their last image of me.”
The Tennessean is not naming the woman for her safety, as the criminal case against the suspect in her case is continuing.
Thousands of women and men across Tennessee are or will be victims of domestic violence by the end of the year. About 39.6% of women in Tennessee and 36.8% of men will experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetimes, according to statistics kept by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
That gives Tennessee the 15th highest rate for women and the third highest for men in the country.
The woman spent hours trapped inside a Middle Tennessee home with her boyfriend, she said, after she tried to break off the relationship earlier this year. She'd had enough of his anger, his gaslighting and his emotional abuse.
He became enraged, threw household items and put his hands around her neck and squeezed well over a dozen times, according to arrest affidavits from law enforcement. He held her at gunpoint, telling her he was going to kill himself, then telling her he was going to kill them both, she said.
Feeling her body shut down, she believed death was inevitable. But then an opportunity presented itself, and she recalled how she forced her bruised body to run. She found a phone, called 911 and filed a police report and protection order against the man she once loved.
She survived, and he's now sitting in jail, facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault and aggravated assault.
Domestic violence in Tennessee
There were 61,839 allegations of domestic violence reported by Tennesseans to law enforcement agencies across the state last year, for an average of about 169 reports a day. Some of these reports contain multiple allegations of crimes committed against a single victim.
The total continues a steady downward trend over the last 20 years, according to data compiled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Of the allegations reported last year, about 53% were cleared by arrest or exception, as in when a suspect dies or prosecution is declined.
While the total number of reports decreased, that does not necessarily mean it's happening less frequently, just that "many other incidents went unreported," according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
The three largest counties in Tennessee unsurprisingly reported the most allegations in 2022. Shelby County outpaced every other Tennessee county with 16,331 reports. By comparison, Davidson County had 9,361 reports, while Knox County had 4,230 reports.
Shelby County also had the lowest clearance rate in the state at 27%.
Counties with the highest rate of domestic violence reports per 1,000 residents:
Shelby County, 17.57.
Morgan County, 14.59.
Davidson County, 13.30.
Dyer County, 12.69.
Hamblen County, 12.28.
Maury County, 11.76.
Rutherford County, 11.53.
Monroe County, 9.97.
Bradley County, 9.96.
Montgomery County, 9.89.
While reported assaults continue to decline, domestic fatalities are on the rise.
From 2021-22, domestic-related homicides increased by 12 cases to 94, accounting for about 15% of all homicides reported in the state last year. On average, in about half of those homicides, the suspect used a firearm, according to the coalition.
Domestic related kidnappings have also increased in Tennessee.
For the last six years, kidnapping reports surpassed 1,000 each year. TBI reported that 1,278 kidnappings happened last year, about a 53% increase from 10 years ago and a 208% increase from 2002.
Dearth of safety shelters in West Tennessee
West Tennessee is a domestic violence shelter desert.
There are three shelters serving all of West Tennessee compared to Middle Tennessee's four and the six out east.
It’s a concerning issue, Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic Violence CEO Jennifer Escue said. The coalition constantly reassesses the highest needs for victims, but Escue said shelters are increasingly at capacity, and it's becoming a troubling trend.
“There are a lot in East Tennessee, and then if you look at West Tennessee, that’s where the capacity is a lot lower,” Escue said.
Live in Obion County? You're looking at over an hour drive to the closest shelter in Jackson. The next closest is 86 miles from there.
Cases continue to climb, Escue said, and the need for more rooms at shelters across the state is at a tipping point. The lone shelter in Memphis has about 26 rooms.
“We need more bed space, for sure. I mean Memphis is a big city,” Escue said.
'You can change future generations'
Nashville police Detective Terrance McBride and Lt. Blake Giles, both officers in the domestic violence unit, see a lot of victims repeatedly, they said.
On average, it takes a victim seven times before they leave an abusive relationship for good, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Working hand-in-hand with the Office of Family Safety, the Metro Nashville Police Department assists thousands of victims each year with filing charges, seeking protection orders and finding safe shelter if needed.
"This is a field where when you are able to help someone, you can change the trajectory of their life," Giles said. "You can change future generations. You can empower and embolden someone to find a liberty and a much happier life than they've experienced."
The number of domestic violence reports over the last 20 years in Metro Nashville mirrors statewide numbers. While overall reports have been on a decline, homicides have largely been up. Last year, investigators had the highest number of domestic violence homicides, with 15 cases.
So far this year, Metro Nashville Police have responded to 9,916 calls that were categorized as domestic in nature, according data pulled from the city's website.
From those calls:
228 were reported to be unfounded.
4,084 saw the victim refuse to cooperate.
162 declined prosecution.
Eight involved a juvenile, no arrest made.
18 ended in the death of the alleged offender.
1,826 remain under investigation.
3,590 ended in arrest.
Police have served more than 400 warrants in cases so far this year.
"Our office is apprehending known offenders of domestic violence like never before," Giles said during the Nashville Coalition Against Domestic Violence's annual Meet Us at the Bridge event in remembrance of homicide victims.
Between this year's October event and the 2022 event, 12 people were killed in what police called domestic-related homicides in the Metro Nashville area. Guns were used in nine of the cases, a knife in one and two other victims were beaten to death, investigators said.
Just three weeks after Danielle Yarlett was killed, her father, Daniel Yarlett, stood before a crowd dressed in purple, bracing against a chilly wind on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge to honor his second born during this year's event.
"All I can say is that silence is how this community grows," he said. "Reach out to speak to someone if you think they're going through it because they probably won't come to you."
Domestic violence during COVID: 'A license to abuse': How COVID created, amplified domestic violence across US, Tennessee
Kirsten Fiscus is a breaking news reporter for The Tennessean. Contact her at kfiscus@tennessean.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KDFiscus.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Domestic violence in Tennessee: How the state stacks up
