2023 Gender-Based Violence Homicide Report
Violence Free Minnesota announced the findings of its annual report about domestic violence homicide in Minnesota. For more than 30 years, the report — now titled Homicide Report: Relationship Abuse in Minnesota — has documented every woman killed by a current or former intimate partner, as well as victims who were murdered while being stalked, engaging in sex work, or used in prostitution and/or sex trafficking.
No state or federal agency collects comprehensive data on domestic violence or intimate partner homicides, so this coalition of statewide agencies that serve victims has been compiling reported stories from public information and news accounts. Many murders, however, often go unreported in mainstream media, especially of people of color, Native women and two-spirit people, those living in poverty, rural victims and children, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community (particularly transgender women of color), people who engage in sex work, and women and children used in prostitution and sex trafficking.
Details
- 55.2% of IPV victims were separated from their abuser or attempting to leave when they were killed;
- Threats to kill were present in at least 24% of the 2023 cases involving an adult victim killed by their current or former intimate partner;
- 55.2% of IPV victims were killed by a perpetrator using a firearm;
- 44.8% of IPV victims were killed by someone with a documented history of violence against them or a previous partner;
- At least 31% of the adult IPV victims killed by a partner in 2023 were killed by a current or former partner who used strangulation as the means of death, and/or had previously strangled them prior to killing them by other means, and/or had a history of strangulation against other partners.
The List of 2023 Homicides Detailed in the Report
January 3, 2023: Logan Gregory Barham, 22, died as a result of stabbing in St. Louis Park
January 8, 2023: Kyla Bianca O’Neal, 31, died as a result of gunshot in Lakeville
January 17, 2023: Messiah O’Neal, 9 days, died as a result of complications of firearm-related maternal death in Lakeville
February 2, 2023: Manuel Ernesto Bernal Jurado, 17, died as a result of gunshot in Chanhassen
March 9, 2023: Devon Michael Adams, 27, died as a result of gunshot in Fridley
March 9, 2023: Jennifer Yang, 36, died as a result of gunshot in Andover
March 20, 2023: Adrian Montano-Medina, 20, died as a result of gunshot in Howard Lake
March 21, 2023: Corrina Dawn Woodhull, 41, died as a result of stabbing in St. Paul
March 31, 2023: Madeline Jane Kingsbury, 26, died as a result of an unknown form of homicidal violence in Winona
April 8, 2023: Donshay Ina Hardy, 38, died as a result of gunshot in St. Paul
April 15, 2023: Joshua Anthony Owen, 44, died as a result of gunshot in Cyrus
April 21, 2023: Manijeh “Mani” Nicole Starren, 33, died as a result of an unknown form of homicidal violence in St. Paul
May 2, 2023: Antonio Levar Moore, 37, died as a result of stabbing in Brooklyn Center
May 12, 2023: Daniel Joseph Aldridge, 47, died as a result of forced acute methamphetamine intoxication in Minneapolis
May 29, 2023: Sabrina Lee Schnoor, 25, died as a result of gunshot in Owatonna
June 9, 2023: James Craig Koutsky, 47, died as a result of gunshot in Deer River
June 25, 2023: Angela Marie McClelland, 49, died as a result of vehicular homicide in Fort Ripley Township
June 29, 2023: Vickie Marie (Solmonson) O’Brien, 63, died as a result of gunshot in Sylvan Township
July 3, 2023: Youa Vue Khang, 58, died as a result of gunshot in Brooklyn Center
July 5, 2023: William Lamont Hudson, 40, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
July 8, 2023: Danicka Marie Bergeson, 33, died as a result of an unknown form of homicidal violence in Hopkins
July 16, 2023: Darisha Tela Bailey Vath, 17, died as a result of vehicular homicide in Forest Lake
July 16, 2023: Jean Harriette Mart, 77, died as a result of blunt force trauma and gunshot in Perham
August 3, 2023: Sarah Kathryn Patrick, 30, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
August 20, 2023: Betty Jo Bowman, 32, died as a result of poisoning in Rochester
August 28, 2023: Mary Agnes Corneliusen, 66, died as a result of gunshot in Warroad
September 5, 2023: Melanie Michele Jansen, 54, died as a result of gunshot in Breezy Point
September 5, 2023: Hannah Nicole Parmenter, 29, died as a result of gunshot in Breezy Point
October 6, 2023: Sarah Jane Carda, 35, died as a result of gunshot in Fish Lake Township
October 12, 2023: Jianqin Zhang, 53, died as a result of strangulation in Eagan
October 26, 2023: Kayla Rose Hulsey, 35, died as a result of strangulation in Ridgely Township
October 28, 2023: Justin Capri Boyland, 28, died as a result of gunshot in Prior Lake
November 17, 2023: Shaqita Monique Thomas, 39, died as a result of strangulation in St. Paul
November 20, 2023: Ricardo Samuel Pena Martinez, 31, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
November 29, 2023: Savannah Ryan Williams, 38, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
December 17, 2023: Kesha Latrice Moore, 43, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
December 17, 2023: Meredith Marie Martell, 35, died as a result of stabbing in Marshall
December 18, 2023: Franclin Ignacio Orellana, 44, died as a result of gunshot in Minneapolis
December 21, 2023: Jayden Lee Kline, 18, died as a result of gunshot in Fridley
December 28, 2023: Kayla Marie Watts, 29, died as a result of gunshot in Dassel
/av_one_third]
Recommendations in the Report
Media
Training and Development: Media agencies should prioritize ongoing training to ensure ethical reporting on domestic violence and intimate partner homicide. Training must cover ethical reporting on domestic violence against 2SLGBTQIA+ victims, victims with disabilities, immigrant victims, male victims, and women. Sources: Media should consult domestic violence advocates and experts rather than solely relying on police for case details, and should include local advocacy resources like the 24/7 MN Day One Hotline (1.866.385.2699) in all related news stories. Content Focus: Articles should concentrate on the perpetrator’s actions, avoid victim-blaming, and honor victims, especially in intimate partner homicide cases, by contextualizing them within a history of abuse.
Health Care Systems
Policies and Procedures: Healthcare clinics and hospitals should develop and institutionalize comprehensive domestic violence policies. Screening Methods: Healthcare settings should consider transitioning to universal education methods like CUES (Confidentiality, Universal Education, Empowerment, Support) for domestic violence awareness, reducing reliance on patient disclosure. Training: Healthcare settings should provide mandatory, ongoing training for healthcare staff on domestic violence. Risk Assessments and Referrals: Healthcare settings should incorporate intimate partner homicide risk assessments and engage in safety planning and referrals. Collaboration: Healthcare settings should establish cross-training and referral partnerships with local domestic violence agencies.
Housing and Economic Justice
Financial Assistance: The state should expand financial and childcare assistance resources for surviving family members of homicide victims, and reduce barriers to financial assistance from the Minnesota Crime Victims Reimbursement Fund. Housing Inclusivity and Collaboration: Housing agencies should continue to fund apartment-style housing to increase inclusivity for male and 2SLGBTQIA+ victims. Continuums of Care: CoCs should partner with their local domestic violence organization(s) to create or strengthen an access point for domestic violence victims/survivors to safety planning and services. Child Support Collaboration: Child support programs should implement comprehensive domestic violence policies and procedures. Employer Support: Employers should familiarize themselves with Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time law and its application to domestic violence victims.
Equity and Racial Justice
Funding for Programming: The state should prioritize funding for culturally specific domestic violence services, which are developed by and for underserved communities and may be best situated to meet the needs of some survivors. Internal Auditing: Actors within the victims’ rights movement must start and/or continue the process of self-auditing for harms they have contributed to against marginalized communities in efforts to support some survivors. Policymaking: All levels of, and actors involved in, the policy making process should incorporate principles of equity and inclusion to ensure no groups of survivors are excluded, and that previous exclusions are reddressed. Every step of the policy making process should include a robust analysis of intended, unintended, and unannounced consequences of policy changes.
Legal Systems
Additional Safety Avenues: Violence Free Minnesota does not call for any new or enhanced criminal penalties, but instead for the more equitable and just application of current law and the creation of additional avenues to safety. Supervision Practices: Minnesota supervision agencies should improve uniformity and consistency in how individuals with histories of perpetrating abuse and who are on probation or supervised release are assessed and supervised. Policymaking: Legislators and the legal system should work to prevent domestic violence homicide and control/intimidation by firearm.
Community Response
School Curricula: All K-12 schools should implement some form of standardized, ongoing, age-appropriate curricula that addresses consent and healthy relationships, and should form relationships with their local community based domestic violence agencies. Faith Communities: Faith communities should develop training/referral relationships with domestic violence agencies to support community members. Childcare Agencies: Daycare centers and supervised visits/safe exchange facilities should develop policies for responding to domestic violence experienced by clients. Community and Organizational Care: Anti-violence agencies should consider working with consultants to audit their policies for trauma-informed principles and implement these where needed.
Founded in 1978, Violence Free Minnesota is a statewide coalition of over 90 member programs working to end relationship abuse. Violence Free Minnesota strives to end relationship abuse by taking strategic action in partnership with the power of survivors and member programs across the state. As Minnesota’s state domestic violence coalition, the nonprofit shapes public policy, raises public awareness, and builds the capacity of community-based programs to address the needs of survivors of relationship violence and advocate on their behalf.
Minnesota Women’s Press and its statewide arm for content, conversations and 2025 action, Changemakers Alliance, focuses ongoing coverage on gender-based violence. To support the “Addressing Gender-Based Violence” series, please become a Badass member.
For 2025 coverage, Minnesota Women’s Press earned a community leadership award, three photography awards, and four editorial awards, including for coverage of social issues and for our Spring 2025 “Know Your Rights” special section supported by Unidos MN. Our publisher was named Journalist of the Year by Violence Free Minnesota for gender-based violence coverage.
