There were more domestic abuse deaths as of August in Nebraska than all of last year

Nebraska recorded 15 deaths attributed to domestic abuse from January through July in 2025 – more than the 13 deaths recorded in all of 2024, according to a report from the state’s Domestic Abuse Death Review Team.

In an annual report released Friday, the team offered its most comprehensive overview yet of the trends in domestic violence deaths in the state. The review team was created in 2022 after families of victims lobbied legislators to collect and review more data on the topic.

2025 DADRT Annual Report

The 15 deaths since January represent about 21% of the 72 total deaths identified since the review began in July 2022. In 2023, a total of 30 domestic abuse deaths were recorded around the state.

Of all 72 cases, the review found that most incidents were homicides (69.9%) or murder-suicides (23.2%). Three of the cases were identified as victim suicides, or people who died by suicide after reporting domestic abuse. Seven of the victims were children.

Most perpetrators in those 72 cases were male – about 87% – but victims were more evenly split, with 57.5% of victims recorded as female and 42.5% as male. Most female victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner. Most male victims were killed by a family member.

The report also provided a further breakdown of 27 cases that have gone through court and investigative processes, allowing researchers to access additional data and interview family and friends of the victims. In those 27 cases:

• About 43% of victims had a documented history of physical abuse by the perpetrator prior to their death.
• In 83% of cases, family members of the victim reported being aware of abuse.
• Most perpetrators, about 63%, had no violent criminal history.
• About 30% of perpetrators had received mental health treatment at some point in the past, with the most common diagnoses being depression and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder.

The review team will soon select two pilot sites across Nebraska to implement the Lethality Assessment Program, which seeks to train law enforcement to conduct so-called lethality assessments to identify domestic violence victims at the highest risk of being seriously injured or killed by their partner. The assessment includes an 11-question screening tool to identify known risk factors like escalating violence and controlling behavior.

Some larger law enforcement and victim service organizations in the state already use some sort of lethality assessment tool, but the review team suggests a more standardized approach.