Sun Port Charlotte, January 2021
The murder-suicide in Port Charlotte on Wednesday drove home the reality of tensions between intimate partners: They can often lead to violence, or worse.
Linda Lusk, chief advancement officer for the Center for Abuse and Rape Emergencies (CARE), said orders of protection, also known as restraining orders, “have doubled during the pandemic” — a time when many couples and families were holed up at home and isolated from friends and work.
She cited statistics from renowned criminologist James Alan Fox, of Northeastern University. He reported a 72% increase in all murder-suicides between intimate partners from 2014 to 2017. Furthermore, 94% of the victims were female, his studies showed.
