On July 2, 2015

Report: Domestic violence caused most of Vermont’s homicides in 2014

By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org

Two-thirds of homicides in Vermont last year were related to domestic violence, with victims ranging from 14 months to 60 years old, according to data from the Vermont Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission.

The 2014 report, published this week, is an annual product of a 17-member commission that includes representatives of victims and the medical community as well as departments within the Agency of Human Services, the Attorney General’s office and other state divisions.

According to the report, five of the victims of domestic violence homicides were men in 2014. Four children and one woman were killed in domestic violence situations.

Domestic violence has been a factor in slightly more than half of the total 248 homicides of all adults over the last two decades. According to the report, firearms played a role in the majority of domestic violence related homicides over the last 20 years, with 71 of the 125 fatalities being gun-related deaths. The next most common cause of death in domestic violence-related homicides was blunt trauma, contributing to 21 deaths, followed by 17 stabbing deaths.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Two members, including chair, resign from the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont

June 25, 2025
By Corey McDonald/VTDigger Two members of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, including the commission’s chair, announced last week they would be resigning, saying they no longer believed their efforts would make any impact. Meagan Roy, the chair of the commission, and Nicole Mace, the former representative of the Vermont School Boards…

Vt plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban, researchers find

June 25, 2025
In the midst of 2020 Covid measures, another change took place in Vermont: A law went into effect banning businesses from offering plastic bags to customers, with paper bags only available for a fee. A 2023 analysis of a survey of hundreds of Vermonters found the law appeared to have worked. Plastic bag use in…

A Roadmap

June 25, 2025
The Vermont Legislature adjourned Monday evening, June 16, following the passage of H.454, the education reform plan. I call it a roadmap as the legislation lays out a list of changes that will take place over the next few years. And as various studies and reports come back in, there will also likely be adjustments,…

Vermont to get over $21 million in nationwide settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers

June 25, 2025
Attorney General Charity Clark announced June 16 that all 55 attorneys general, representing all eligible states and U.S. territories, have agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. This settlement was reached after the previous settlement was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. It resolves…