1/4 homicides from domestic violence

Domestic violence led to 131 homicides in North Carolina last year.

North Carolina has averaged around 550 homicides annually in recent years.

Mecklenburg County reported the most domestic violence homicides, 14, last year. Wake County had six.

Attorney General Roy Cooper announced the unpleasant data Thursday, the result of a two-year-old law requiring law enforcement agencies to file more detailed reports on such deaths to the State Bureau of Investigation.

The data showed some logical patterns, with the more populous counties showing higher numbers, but several rural counties showed surprisingly high figures, such as five domestic violence homicides in Edgecombe County.

"We should aim very broadly in our efforts" against domestic violence, Cooper said, emphasizing that the problem is not just concentrated in urban centers. Rita Anita Linger, executive director of the N.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said factors that contribute to domestic violence, such as isolation and the scarcity of support services, are more severe in rural counties.

Eight of the 131 victims had taken out a protective order, and Cooper said one goal is to better educate the public about the availability and value of those orders. He also praised a pilot program in Pitt County that alerts victims through a state system when the protective order they requested has been served.

Three of the offenders responsible were reported to be on pre-trial release for a domestic violence crime when the homicide took place.

Among the numbers included in Cooper's report: 99 of the victimes were female, while 32 were male. The offenders responsible included 103 males and 25 females. (Some had multiple victims.) The counties with the largest number of homicides, besides Mecklenburg and Wake, included: Forsyth and Guilford - seven each; Union - six; Durham and Cumberland counties - four each.