FINDINGS 6 FACES OF FATALITY / JUNE 2017 www.fcadv.org The 2017 Faces of Fatality report contains descriptive statistics of domestic violence homicides based on data collected by Florida’s local fatality review teams between March 2016 and December 2016. These deaths occurred between 1995 and 2016, with the majority of fatalities occurring from 2010-2016. Local fatality review teams entered data extracted from 30 cases that informed the 2017 report. Aggregated data analysis helps to identify patterns and trends related to domestic violence homicides and emphasizes critical areas of focus related to improving policy and intervention strategies. The data in this report is generated from both qualitative and quantitative sources. The teams gathered information from public records, media reports, and conversations with proxy informants such as family or friends of the deceased. The information provides a contextual view of the perpetrators’ behaviors and the survivors’ experiences prior to and leading up to the homicides. Additionally, the local teams utilize a uniform data collection tool to gather and report information about the characteristics of perpetrators, characteristics of decedents and their relationships with perpetrators, known domestic violence histories, criminal records, and a range of observable evidence-based risk factors. This report also presents a case study and findings based on the fatality review conducted by the statewide team of a murder/suicide. The perpetrator murdered a woman with whom he dated during the previous year. The victim was attempting to end the relationship for six months. The perpetrator slept on her back porch the night before the homicide and when she found him the next morning, she asked him to leave. The victim informed the perpetrator that she planned to seek an Injunction for Protection later that day and then left the residence. While she was gone, he broke into her home and when she returned a short time later, he then murdered her. The perpetrator then committed suicide after the murder of the victim. During the investigation, a friend of the victim stated that the suspect was “very abusive and controlling” and accused the victim of having an affair. A week before the homicide he drove a golf cart past the victim’s house and upon finding the victim and her male friend, punched him in the forehead. Despite her attempts to leave the relationship, the perpetrator stalked, harassed and threatened her. This loss of life is a tragic reminder of the great need for systemic and cultural changes to the response of the crime of domestic violence. The Faces of Fatality annual report seeks to honor the victim’s memory through the development of recommendations that provide hope for those experiencing domestic violence in the future. Findings from the 2016-2017 local fatality reviews highlight several themes regarding victim and perpetrator profiles, as well as factors that suggest a heightened risk of lethality: • 35% of perpetrators were unemployed at the time of the homicide. • 55% of perpetrators were reported to have substance abuse histories. • 28% of perpetrators were reported to have a professionally diagnosed mental health disorder.
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