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.
