{"id":481260,"date":"2026-10-30T09:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/481260\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T09:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:25:12","slug":"tarrant-county-domestic-violence-homicides-more-than-doubled-in-last-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/481260\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarrant County domestic violence homicides more than doubled in last two years"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ismael M. Belkoura, Fort Worth Report
October 29, 2026<\/p>\n

Domestic violence homicides in Tarrant County increased for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

In all, 13 people in the county died in 2025 as a result of intimate partner violence, according to a report<\/a> released earlier this month. That\u2019s two more than last year and more than double the number of homicides the county reported in the review in 2023.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Jacob, president and CEO of The Archway, one of the primary partner organizations participating in the Intimate Partner Violence Fatality Review, called the most recent findings the \u201celephant in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to go a 12-month period with zero intimate partner homicides, and sadly, our community is moving away from the goal,\u201d said Jacob, reiterating the responsibility for the increase in deaths falls at the feet of domestic violence offenders.<\/p>\n

If you are a victim of intimate partner violence, contact your local police department or The Archway\u2019s 24-hour hotline at 1-877-701-7233.<\/p>\n

The Tarrant County Intimate Partner Violence Adult Fatality Review Team consists of nonprofits like The Archway as well as police departments and the Tarrant County district attorney\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team publishes the review every year in October, which is designated nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.<\/p>\n

The goal of the review and the team that puts it together is to \u201cidentify gaps in system responses and improve communication and collaboration among the agencies involved to reduce preventable deaths,\u201d according to the county website.<\/p>\n

In addition to creating the annual report, the review team, led by the Tarrant County district attorney\u2019s office, allows for more open connections between leaders in the domestic violence prevention space, assistant district attorney Allenna Bangs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in the criminal justice system, we are going to be a little bit reactive when a crime gets filed,\u201d Bangs said. \u201cBut what we want to do is identify the gaps in services in the community to identify where we can fill a hole so that this potentially doesn\u2019t result in a homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The review also examines trends and other data points related to the homicide cases in addition to reporting the total number. In 2025, it was found that seven offenders had previous intimate partner violence criminal charges against them. The review also found that 17 child dependents connected to these cases lost one or both of their parents that year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacob and Bangs noted that strangulation cases have consistently been an indicator of potential homicide in regard to intimate partner violence. One new pattern noted in the review pointed to a more direct connection between stalking and intimate partner homicides.<\/p>\n

Being aware of these connections to other types of crimes allows the district attorney\u2019s office to flag these situations ahead of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019ve got stalking also as a part of it \u2026 we might need to approach the court and get a more strenuous bond condition. Or maybe, if they\u2019re out of custody, focus on having them back in custody if they\u2019re violating that,\u201d Bangs said.<\/p>\n

For Jacob, one of the more important details is that none of the 13 victims had filed a protection order or contacted The Archway prior to the homicide.<\/p>\n

She noted that for many years, homicide victims in previous reviews had never gone to a shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know that a resource exists in your community, a resource that is comprehensive and licensed to do this work, then it can very much save your life,\u201d Jacob said. \u201cBut if you are not aware, if you think nothing exists or something exists and it\u2019s not for me, then sometimes that can have fatal consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bangs, who agreed with Jacob that the offender is ultimately responsible for preventing domestic violence deaths, also noted homicides wholesale in Fort Worth and Arlington look to be dipping significantly in 2026.<\/p>\n

Alongside her work with the review team, Jacob is part of Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force. Jacob said early findings culminated by the task force found several precursors to domestic violence homicides: strangulation, stalking, access to a firearm and pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Awareness of these precursors and of the resources available will help get to the goal of zero deaths in one year, Jacob said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is all of our responsibility to make sure that everyone in our lives knows that this exists, that you can find confidential, anonymous shelters and other services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.\u00a0\"""\"<\/p>\n

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