Over half of the murders of American women involve their intimate partners. In an article back in January, KC Star columnist Jenee Osterheldt wrote:
Over the span of nine days this month, three women were found dead — murdered by their husbands or partners, prosecutors say. On Monday, the body of Lynnette Williams, 27, was found next to a Grandview dumpster. She had been stabbed and set on fire. Police say her boyfriend, Kasanova Callier, 27, told them he had to kill her. He claimed she was a bad mom and was going to stab him. He’s charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Last week, police found the body of Tanisha Harris, 38, in a Cass County field. She was an associate pastor. Her husband, Robert Lee Harris Jr., 30, a church elder, has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder. And on the first Saturday of the new year, 19-year-old Elizabeth Richards was found dead in a Kansas City home, naked from the waist down, shot in the head, her wrists bound behind her back. Her 2-year old son was there, unharmed. Her child’s father, Joseph Gonsalez, 23, is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and child endangerment.
She added this alarming report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: a 2017 study by the Violence Policy Center found that Kansas and Missouri are among the 10 states with the highest rates of women murdered by men. Missouri ranks 10th and Kansas is seventh.
We cannot ignore these numbers.
This morning Sgt. Kari Thompson and Jessica McClellan, founder of Giving Hope & Help were on the Morning Grind with Shay and Shyne. Listen in to the conversation and receive information on valuable resources to escape a violent relationship.
Your life – or a loved one’s — may depend on it.