State report shows El Paso County leading Colorado in domestic violence deaths

COLORADO (KRDO) -- The Attorney General's Office released its annual report on domestic violence, which compiles information on domestic violence deaths in 2021.

The report shows El Paso County had the highest number of domestic violence fatalities (DVFs) in the state with 28 deaths. Denver and Arapahoe County followed behind with 20 and 10 DVFs respectively.

The report puts context to individual domestic violence cases throughout the year, like the late October 2021 murder-suicide of the Kreb family.

Oct. 30, 2021, El Paso County Sheriff's deputies responded to a murder-suicide at a home near Gleneagle, where they found four dead.

55-year-old Christof Kreb allegedly shot his wife Yvette and two of his eight children, Felicity and Barrett.

Felicity, Barrett and Yvette are three of 59 victims honored in the state's newest report.

“We’ve calculated domestic violence fatalities for five years in a row," said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, "and 2021 has the most fatalities we’ve recorded.”

In 2021 alone, the report shows there were 91 domestic violence deaths as a result of 61 incidents.

Of the 91 DVFs, 45 were direct victims, 32 were perpetrators of the violence and 14 were victims killed indirectly by it, including 4 children.

"Every tragedy begs the question, what could we have done to save lives?" said Weiser.

The report reveals 81% of domestic violence deaths were carried out with a gun.

"We've lost people and then families have been destroyed," said Weiser, "where maybe if we removed a firearm earlier, we could have saved a life."

88% of DVF victims were women, while 90% of DVF perpetrators were men.

The Domestic Violence Review Board is now calling for changes, including increased domestic violence training for judicial officers and avenues for law enforcement to directly report DVFs to the Attorney General's Office.