At least 25 homicides in Kentucky’s annual domestic violence report for 2025
Jul 02, 2026 | 2:50 pm ET
Description
A memorial in the parking lot of the Hardin County Justice Center, where Erica Riley and her mother Janet Rylee were killed on their way to a domestic violence hearing. Erica Riley was seeking protection from the man who shot them and later killed himself. The photo was taken Sept. 22, 2024 in Elizabethtown. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Austin Anthony)
If you or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. You can also contact any of Kentucky’s 15 domestic violence programs.
At least 25 Kentuckians were killed by an intimate partner in 2025.
That’s according to the 2025 Domestic Violence Data Report, released Thursday, which cites Federal Bureau of Investigations data because Kentucky doesn’t have a way to track domestic violence homicides.
Because of that tracking gap, “the true death toll remains unknown,” the report says.
Domestic violence continues to be rampant in the state, with nearly 40% of women and 22% of men experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Most victims continue to be women (75%) and most perpetrators are men (73%), according to the report.
Children are not shielded from the violence. Nearly 23,000 were present for violent incidents that police responded to last year and more than 9,000 of those were children younger than 5.
2024 domestic violence report shows perpetrator, victim age breakdown
About 1,600 of these children called the police for help themselves.
More than 8,000 people were arrested in 2025 on domestic violence and intimate partner violence charges, according to the report. Most — about 5,100 — were fourth degree assault charges. There were around 700 strangulations and violations of protective orders.
During Gov. Andy Beshear’s weekly press conference, First Lady Britainy Beshear said “it takes a tremendous amount of bravery and support for survivors to overcome domestic violence” and “it’s our job to ensure we are there for them with all the resources they need as they begin to heal and move forward.”
She also pointed to violence levels that have “remained stable” over the last two years.
“Although I’m glad that it did not increase, I’m also disappointed to see that it has not decreased,” Beshear said.
By the numbers
The 147-page report shows that in 2025:
- There were 33,786 electronic JC-3 forms related to domestic and/or dating violence and abuse filed by law enforcement. This is an increase from the 32,899 forms reported in 2024 and 32,885 in 2023.
- Most of these allegation forms don’t result in arrests. In 2025 there were 8,301 arrests made for incidents involving domestic or dating violence and abuse. This is an increase from 7,964 reported arrests last year.
- There were nine sexual extortion charges (two felonies and seven misdemeanors) between June 27 to December 31, 2025. The Kentucky General Assembly made sexual extortion a crime in 2025.
- Of the at least 22,641 incidents of intimate partner violence in which children were present in 2025, 438 of those cases involved guns and 347 involved knives.
- Most accused perpetrators are adults between the ages of 22-59. The largest age group is 30-39.
- In most domestic violence incidents in Kentucky, the parties are married or have a child in common.
- There were 19,481 crisis/hotline calls to ZeroV’s 15 regional domestic violence programs and 14,338 individuals received services from the organization’s regional domestic violence programs.
- There were 17,950 reports of alleged child abuse/neglect submitted to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services that also included intimate partner violence.
- There were 20,129 emergency protective orders and temporary interpersonal protective orders ordered by courts.
Read the report
Read the full report here or in the document below.
Frankfort
