Domestic abuse killed more people in Duval County last year

Deaths due to domestic abuse in Duval County rose between 2024 and 2025, according to an annual report presented Thursday.

Duval County had 21 homicides related to domestic violence in 2025, versus 19 in 2024, according to the annual Domestic Violence Fatality Review Report.

Since the report began in 1997, 68% of domestic violence homicides in Duval County were done by men against women. Seventy-eight percent of them involved or were related to intimate partners, the 2025 report says.  

The report leaves Gail Patin, CEO of Hubbard House, feeling hopeful, as well as a bit sad that even one person dies due to domestic violence. She leads Jacksonville’s domestic abuse shelter.

“The hope I take away is that we live in a community that cares so much about survivors that people from all different jobs and spaces come together to learn what are some of the risk factors for death due to domestic violence,” Patin said. “And we come together to make our systems better, and for survivors to know they are not alone.”

The annual report was presented to mark the beginning of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Multiple agencies and groups pushed to make sure victims of domestic abuse know how to seek help from shelters all over Northeast Florida. They also encouraged more people to report abuse.

The report is prepared by a committee of law enforcement and prosecution experts who seek patterns in domestic abuse deaths, so law enforcement or other agencies might prevent deaths with revised responses.

The report reviewed 16 homicides involving domestic violence in 2025, resulting in 21 deaths. According to the report:

• The number of cases was up from 2024’s fatality review report, which reviewed 14 domestic violence-related homicide cases involving 19 deaths.
• Three of the dead in 2025 were perpetrators who died as the result of a homicide or suicide.
• Ten of the 16 homicides in 2025 involved intimate partners, with six of the 10 committed by men. Of the four cases where women were the ones who killed the other, two were ruled justifiable.
• Guns were used in nine of the 16 cases, seven of those involving intimate partners.
• In 12 of the 16 cases, the suspect, victim or both were noted as having mental health concerns. In cases where parties were not engaged in treatment, two cited the cost of treatment and one cited the side effects of medication.

The team that reviewed the cases recommended the community invest in more affordable and accessible mental health programs from crisis counseling to long term care,” said Assistant State Attorney Khary Gayner, co-chair of the review team.said.

The team did not claim that mental health challenges automatically lead to violence, but Gayner he said it is a risk factor that should be considered.

“Indeed, putting law enforcement officers in the position as they first responder to mental health crisis is fraught, given that these officers rarely have standing and often do not have tools to combat these issues,” he said.

One woman named Beth, who did not give her last name, said she wants to continue to educate people about how to help domestic abuse victims.

She survived multiple violent attacks by her now ex-husband until she escaped with two daughters from Southeast Georgia to safety back home in Jacksonville.

“There is so much help out there,” she said. “I wasn’t able to use these services, but I highly believe in this organization, and whatever we can do to help these people is very important.”

Multiple speakers at the presentation pushed friends, co-workers and family of people they think might be facing domestic abuse to “see something, say something.”

Patin said there is no excuse for domestic violence, which is why their social media campaign for this month is #WhereYouAre, so if anyone sees signs of abuse, report it.

“A survivor living in abuse needs you, our community, to see them, to support them,” Patin said. “That starts with understanding that nobody is immune to domestic violence. … This violence is where you are — your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. Someone has experienced this abuse.”

Events for Domestic Violence Awareness Month

• The 32nd Annual Barbara Ann Campbell Memorial Breakfast will be 7:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. The event remembers those lost locally to domestic violence and promotes awareness of the problem and solution. Tickets are $75 per person.
• Hubbard House Male Engagement Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cox Media Farah & Farah Performance Studio at 11700 Central Parkway. This is part of a new initiative supporting men who want to have an important and valued role in violence prevention.
• The University of North Florida will host Take Back The Night on Oct. 13, starting with an awareness fair at 4:30 p.m. at Osprey Plaza, followed by a Take Back The Night March at 5:30 p.m. The events take a stand against interpersonal violence and dating/domestic violence. 
• Volunteers planted 6,447 purple flags in front of the Duval County Courthouse on Wednesday, representing each injunction for violence filed in 2025 in Duval County.
• Share Hubbard House’s #WhereYouAre social media campaign, posted on Facebook (@HubbardHouseInc) and Instagram (@hubbardhouse).

Domestic abuse resources

• Hubbard House 24-hour hotline: 904-354-3114 and 24-hour text message line, 904-210-3698
• St. Johns County’s Betty Griffin Center 24-hour hotline: 904-824-1555
• Nassau County’s Micah’s Place 24-hour hotline: 904-225-9979
• Clay County’s Quigley House 24-hour hotline: 904-284-0061