Honoring Texas Victims - Texas Council on Family Violence

Key DataMeans of DeathThis report analyzes the means of death or weapon used. National research supports thatwomen who were threatened or assaulted with a gun were 20 times more likely than otherwomen to be murdered. Women whose partners threatened them with murder were 15times more likely than other women to be killed. 3 The 2009 <strong>Texas</strong> data indicates that in 61percent of the cases, perpetrators used firearms to kill their partners.Means of DeathOther6%Strangled4%Unknown4% Beaten with Hands2%Multiple Means10%Stabbed13%Shot61%Murders Resulting in Children Losing Their MothersIn 2009, just under half (44 percent) of the homicides involved women who had children.The youngest surviving child was a 9-month-old infant.A disturbing analysis revealed that in 19 cases, one or more children witnessed the death oftheir mother.Percent of Cases in which Children Lost Their MothersVictim did not haveChildren56%Children LostMother44%3 Campbell, Jacquelyn C., Daniel Webster, Jane Koziol-McLain, Carolyn Rebecca Block, Doris Williams Campbell,Faye Gary, Judith McFarlane, Carolyn Sachs, Phyllis W. Sharps, Yvonne Ulrich, Susan A. Wilt, Jennifer Manganello,Xiao Xu, Janet Schollenberger, and Victoria Frye, “Risk Factors for Femicide in Abusive Relationships: Results froma Multisite Case Control Study,” American Journal of Public Health (93) (2003): 1089-1097.7