Domestic violence deaths spiked in Illinois last year, adding to calls for passage of Karina’s Bill

Domestic violence deaths rose by 110% across the state last year, according to a coalition of advocacy groups who said the sharp spike is a somber reminder why lawmakers must crack down on abusers who own guns.

“This increase really shows that we have to step up our efforts here in Illinois to reduce these preventable homicides,” said Vickie Smith, former executive director and consultant for the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Because if they're increasing that much just over one year, then what are we looking at over the next few years?”

The new numbers are contained in the coalition’s annual report on domestic violence which is typically released in October. But Smith said the findings were so alarming, the coalition decided to publish them earlier in hopes of prompting action on stalled legislation in Springfield.

“We're very disturbed,” Smith said. “The numbers have gone up and down somewhat since we've been doing this, but never this dramatic of an increase. We felt like it was really to get this out earlier rather than later.”

The coalition found that there were 94 incidents of domestic violence that led to 120 deaths last year. That’s a 110% increase from 2022 when 45 incidents of domestic violence and 57 deaths were reported.

Of the 120 deaths reported last year, 107 of them were homicides and 13 were suicides by the alleged abuser. About half of those killed were intimate partners of the attackers. Others included relatives or children.

“What that says is that if somebody has decided that they're going to use some means to take out their partner or ex-partner, a lot of other people are also in danger,” Smith said. “Whoever else is around that person has the potential to be harmed as well.”

A firearm was used in 68% of the 120 deaths, the report found. In 2022, firearms were used in 49% of the deaths.

“Access to guns is always an issue,” Smith said. “If there's any domestic violence occurring, whether it's physical violence or emotional violence or financial exploitation and there are guns, there's always a potential for a domestic violence homicide.”

Smith hopes the findings will prompt lawmakers to act during the fall session on legislation aimed at removing firearms from those accused of abuse.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Karina’s Bill — named for Karina Gonzalez — would require law enforcement to promptly remove firearms while serving an order of protection ordered by a judge.

Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter were fatally shot in their home in July of 2023, just weeks after she told police about threatening behavior by her husband Jose Alvarez.

She was granted an order of protection against Alvarez, whose Firearm Owners Identification Card was automatically revoked. He was also banned from the family home.

Yet on July 3, Alvarez was still in the home with his Glock 9mm pistol when he fatally shot his wife and daughter and wounded their 18-year-old son, according to prosecutors.

Under current law, survivors seeking an order of protection can request removal of firearms but enforcement is often inconsistent, according to Smith and other advocates.

“A lot of times, they take the FOID card but they don't get the guns,” Smith said.

Under Karina’s Bill, a judge would issue a search warrant with the order of protection and law enforcement would have 96 hours to serve the warrant and seize the weapon.

Gonzalez’s family has joined dozens of advocates and lawmakers demanding passage of the measure.

“It’s enraging and utterly devastating to think that if an adequate policy would have been in place, Karina and Daniela could possibly still be here today,” Gonzalez’s cousin Monica Alvarez said at a news conference in January. “How many more must die?”

Owen Ziliak/Sun-Times

The bill was part of a firearms safety package that has passed in the House but has failed to clear the Senate.

Some lawmakers said they did not want to act on the bill until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case involving firearms and domestic violence.

That decision came in late June, with justices ruling that the government can forbid someone with a domestic violence restraining order from possessing firearms.

Speaking at a City Club of Chicago event last week, Senate President Don Harmon said the ruling has cleared the way for lawmakers to resume work on Karina’s Bill.

“We were waiting on the Supreme Court’s decision and … they surprised me in saying we can in fact regulate at that intersection of guns and domestic violence and we need to,” Harmon said.

Advocates are now hoping to push the bill through during the fall veto session, but it still faces opposition from law enforcement groups.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly, who joined Harmon on the City Club panel, said enforcing Karina’s Bill requires “budget stability.”

The Illinois State Police has the primary responsibility, under state law, but it relies heavily on local police and sheriff’s departments to go to a home and remove a gun.

“You have to have the resources to run these programs,” Kelly said.

Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago), a sponsor of the bill, said there is a “considerable amount of support in our favor, but there is still work that needs to be done. I am hopeful that we will be able to pass measures to severely decrease domestic violence deaths involving firearms.”