Domestic violence deaths hit record in past year

The past year has been the most lethal for domestic violence homicides in Ohio, according to a new report from the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, but it’s the level of violence that’s caught the eye of a local domestic violence resource agency.

“We’ve really been hearing about more cases of strangulation, suffocation. The brutalness of the violence has increased,” said Jane Keiffer, executive director of the Artemis Center.

Credit: Artemis Center

Credit: Artemis Center

The ODVN reported 157 intimate partner-related fatalities in 108 cases between July 1, 2024, and June 20, 2025, the highest number of deaths in the 10 years the network has released its annual report.

The number was a 37% increase from the 114 the previous year.

The deaths included 95 victims and 62 perpetrators. More men (82) than women (75) were killed.

“This was a tremendously lethal year for domestic violence in Ohio, with both the number of fatalities from intimate partner violence and the number of fatal IPV cases rising dramatically,” said Lisa DeGeeter, ODVN senior director of policy and prevention.

Guns were used in 144 of the 157 fatalities, according to the report. Other victims died from stabbing, beatings and strangulation.

In 69% of cases, victims had been involved with the criminal or civil justice systems, including divorce or custody proceedings, and 55% of the killers had prior contact with the criminal justice system.

Custody disputes were occurring in 38% of the cases that involved minor children, and more than a third of cases involved murder-suicide.

Keiffer in part attributes the increase in domestic violence to the coverage of caustic behavior by famous people nationwide with seemingly no ramifications, from politicians to athletes to Hollywood celebrities.

“They see public figures getting away with things and they think they can do it,” she said.

She said eventually victims have had enough. “Survivors get to the point where they’ll say to us ‘it was him or me’.”

According to the report, eight victims used lethal force against a perpetrator to save their own lives.

Eleven children under 18 were killed, including three teen girls who were killed by teen boyfriends. Of the 11, four were murdered by a parent and two were murdered by their mother’s new boyfriend. At least 92 children lost a parent, according to the report.

Domestic violence homicides by year

2025 - 157

2024 - 114

2023 - 112

2022 - 112

2021 - 131

2020 - 109

2019 - 91

2018 - 115

2017 - 101

2016 - 81

Source: Ohio Domestic Violence Network Annual Fatality Report