Colorado board reviewing domestic violence deaths finds highest number since its inception
Jan. 6—Deaths in Colorado related to domestic violence jumped in 2021, according to a review board that classifies these fatalities.
A new report from the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board suggests abusers' access to guns and the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to the spike. But underlying patterns in predominantly female victims and male perpetrators persist.
Ninety-one people died in 61 incidents in 2021, the highest number classified as domestic violence-related fatalities by the review board — chaired by Attorney General Phil Weiser — since its creation in 2016. Of those, 45 were the primary victims of the domestic violence identified, 32 were the perpetrators and 14 were collateral victims. Four were children.
"Although no studies to date have addressed DVF (domestic violence fatality) rates during the pandemic, research indicates a significant increase in the incidence of nonfatal DV during the pandemic, and it is likely the factors contributing to this increase are also impacting DVF rates," says the report.
The board recorded 63 domestic violence fatalities in 2020. However, the report acknowledges that factors such as the difficulty of in-person data collection and limitations of homicide investigations by police during the pandemic might mean local domestic violence fatality review boards did not record all deaths.
Gunshots caused 81% of domestic violence fatalities in 2021, according to the report. It references the Mother's Day shooting in Colorado Springs when a man killed his girlfriend and five of her family members before turning the gun on himself. Access to guns by an abuser increases the likelihood of death by 1,000%, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
"This data reflects the dangers associated with DV perpetrators' access to firearms," says the report.
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As a result, the board includes a recommendation for more investment in firearm relinquishment processes for domestic violence perpetrators.
Eighty-eight percent of 2021 victims classified by the report were female, and 90% of perpetrators were male. Nine percent of cases had female perpetrators and male victims, while 2% involved female perpetrators and victims.
This pattern reflects the overall trend that DV more broadly is a very gendered crime," says the report, but notes the data underscores "DV is an issue that crosses genders and needs to be addressed in all relationships."
The fatality review board's classifications cast a net broader than deaths of people killed by their intimate partners to include people who have died "in the context of" domestic violence. Its reviews include collateral victims such as new partners, family members, law enforcement officers or bystanders killed by perpetrators of domestic violence, children killed by abusers in revenge against their victim and suicides of victims or perpetrators.
Among the report's recommendations, the board supports creating a mechanism for law enforcement agencies to report domestic violence fatalities directly to the attorney general's office. While some data is collected from local domestic violence fatality review boards — the state report identifies four in Colorado — the board has to rely on publicly available sources such as media reports and arrest affidavits for data on deaths that have not been reviewed by a local board.
The board also suggests better domestic violence training for judges. An investigation by The Gazette last fall found skepticism by judges of abuse allegations in custody cases sometimes led to children being placed in dangerous arrangements where abuse by a parent continued or even led to death.
