COLUMBUS – Deaths linked to domestic violence continued to rise in Ohio during the pandemic, according to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network’s sixth annual report.
The group says there was a 20% increase in domestic violence fatalities in Ohio between June 1, 2020, and June 30 of this year, which represents a 62% increase from two years ago.
The 131 deaths included the highest yearly number of children since they began counting, ODVN policy director and staff attorney Micaela Deming said.
“We had 15 young people killed in the last year, all related to domestic violence. And some of those stories are even more heart-rending that you might think. That was really startling,” Deming said.
In 16 cases, children were at the scene of a death, Deming said.
The report was released Tuesday to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The report says 30 cases involved multiple fatalities, and Deming says at least 86% of the fatalities involved a gun.