Kansas domestic violence deaths in 2017 highest in 2 decades

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas recorded more domestic violence related homicides in 2017 than it had in more than two decades.

In February 2018, Jacob Ohnmacht admitted the strangulation murder of his wife. He is currently being held in the Lansing Correctional Facility

A Kansas Bureau of Investigation report shows the 38 domestic violence deaths in 2017 was twice as many as 2016.

The agency says 20 of the deaths were female and 18 were male. Also, 33 of the suspects were male while five were female. And firearms were used in 26 of 38 cases.

KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood says 2017 was the second highest number of domestic violence-related deaths since records began in 1993, with 41 deaths.

In June of 2017 Jonathan Perret was sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend and texting a photo of her dead body. He is serving a life term in Lansing Prison, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections

Erin Reazin, a victim services coordinator for Topeka’s YMCA, says society needs to changes the culture from telling females they are responsible for reducing their risk to finding only the perpetrator at fault.