Domestic violence homicides nearly double in Tarrant County, report finds
Eleven men and women died in intimate partner homicides in 2024, nearly double the number killed the previous year, according to the annual Fatality Review Report for Tarrant County.
The report, which was released Friday, identified the highest number of domestic violence homicides since 2020, when there was a record number of intimate partner homicides during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a little confounding,” said Kathryn Jacob, CEO of The Archway, the county’s domestic violence service provider. “It certainly is disappointing. Heartbreaking, even.”
The fatality review team, which includes The Archway, Fort Worth and Arlington police, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, local hospitals, and the medical examiner’s office, among others, reviewed 20 cases from 2024 and determined that 11 met the criteria, Jacob said.
“It is not any homicide that happens with an intimate partner or former intimate partners,” Jacob said. “It is only a homicide that happens as the end result of a pattern of coercive control.”
Last year also included the first recorded case of a domestic violence homicide between same-sex partners since Tarrant County began publishing the report in 2016.
“This case highlights that IPV occurs in every community, not just within heterosexual relationships,” according to the report.
Three of this year’s cases involved separation or intent to leave, according to the report, which can often be the most dangerous time for a victim in an abusive relationship.
“We always try to talk about that, to challenge the notion of, ‘If you leave, you’re safe,’ when, in reality, when you leave, it’s the most dangerous time in a domestic violence relationship,” Jacob said.
Jacob said it was unknown why there was an increase in intimate partner homicides in 2024, but that the increase in political violence in the U.S. could be related.
“I think if we are more widely accepting violence, that certainly isn’t going to help,” she said.
If you’re experiencing abuse or partner violence and need help, you can call The Archway’s hotline number at 1-877-701-7233.
