Domestic violence continues to take its toll

This week the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women (MCBW) released the 2016 Femicide Report, marking 28 years of efforts to document murders that have resulted from domestic violence in our state. Our reports capture almost 1,000 cases of domestic violence homicides in Minnesota between 1989 and 2016.

At least 21 people were killed in domestic violence-related homicides in 2016. The youngest of the victims was 10 years old, the oldest, 85. Victims came from all different walks of life. Some were students, some artists, some worked for the government; all shared the same hopes, aspirations, and expectations of safety that each of us has.

Of the 18 adult women killed by a current or former intimate partner in 2016, at least six were separated or attempting to leave the relationship. Half of the victims were shot, four were strangled; the rest were beaten, stabbed, run over by a car, or burned to death.

Half of the perpetrators had a record of domestic violence in civil or criminal court; in another three cases with no documented history family and friends were aware of the abuse.

In at least four cases, the perpetrators had made threats to harm or kill their victims. For example, in 2011, Tasha Hanson told the police that her boyfriend, Kyle Allers, strangled and assaulted her and told her, "I should tie you up and throw you in the weeds." In 2016, Tasha was found strangled and beaten to death in the woods.

At least eight children were present at the time of their mother's murder. Fourteen minor children were left motherless and two were shot alongside their mothers who survived but the children did not.

In Courtney Monson's case, her 12- and nine-year-old children begged Bryce Monson to spare them and their younger siblings. They carried their two-year-old sister to safety after watching their mother shot.

Most of the victims were killed in their homes, but some were murdered in public, including their work places.

Trisha Nelson was killed at a traffic intersection after pleading with strangers to let her into their cars as Corey Perry chased her and fired several rounds at her.

Barbara Larson was stalked and killed by her ex-husband Richard Larson at her workplace — the local chamber of commerce.

William Sayers ran over Tanya Skinaway with his car three months after she gave birth to their baby. She was left to die on the side of the road.

The terror these victims must have felt is unimaginable. Year after year, we review similar incidents full of horror, warnings, and missed opportunities for intervention. Year after year, we share the Femicide Report in hopes that the force of these tragedies will propel our communities to action.

We can prevent these homicides by believing victims; with investment in victim centered resources, interventions and accountability measures. We must view prevention and education as a cornerstone for change. It will take commitment from every single Minnesotan to make sure we never have to release another Femicide Report or gather at another memorial.

These victims were more than how they died; they had full lives and hopes for the future; they are mothers, daughters, children, friends loved and missed by many.

In their memories, we vow: No more.