Domestic violence homicides soar in KC as leaders make plea to survivors
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse or violence, you can call the Kansas City metro-wide hotline for help at 816-HOTLINE (816-468-5463) to get free information about housing, financial aid, medical aid, counseling services and shelters 24 hours a day.
Just three months into 2025, Kansas City has already seen as many domestic violence homicides as all of last year, police and city leaders announced Monday.
Saying this moment must be a “call to action,” Police Chief Stacey Graves said there were 12 domestic violence-related homicides in all of 2024.
“Today, on April 7, 2025, we have recorded 12 domestic violence homicides since January 1,” said Graves, flanked by Mayor Quinton Lucas, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson and a handful of advocates. “These incidents involve intimate partner violence and violence amongst family members, to include parents and their children.”
She soon directed her words and message straight to survivors of domestic violence:
“There’s help for you,” Graves said in a Monday morning news briefing addressing the skyrocketing number of domestic violence homicides this year. “We can help you out of an abusive relationship. Your abusers will be held accountable. ... Everyone deserves to feel safe, especially in their own home.”
As she spoke, the mayor and prosecutor and domestic violence advocates nodded their heads in agreement. Graves said the collective group at Monday’s briefing “want you to be safe and want you to know that they are here to help you.”
From the second day of this year to April 1, there have been eight deadly domestic violence incidents in Kansas City, according to police. In three of those incidents, multiple people were killed, including children — bringing the city to 12 domestic violence homicide victims this year.
In 2024, there were just 3 domestic violence homicide victims in Kansas City as of early April.
A deadly year
The violence started early in 2025.
On the second day of the year, police responded to a call where a father and his son and daughter were found dead. Police said that Zachary Hatcher, 38, killed his children, Jeffrey Hatcher, 8, and Charlotte Hatcher, 6, before he killed himself.
All three were found with gunshot wounds inside a home in the 1000 block of Northwest 91st Terrace. Police who responded to the home on a welfare call smelled smoke and called for firefighters, who extinguished a blaze at the residence. Investigators entered the home and found the three.
One month later, three women — all from one family — were found dead inside a Platte County home. Kansas City police responded to that home after a 911 caller reported that someone had come to their door reporting that her mother’s ex-boyfriend shot her mother and shot at her.
The victims were identified as Jodie Hopcus, 49, Sherri Duncan, 73, and Hailey Hopcus, 24.
Prosecutor Johnson said the issue of domestic violence in Kansas City “needs drastic help.”
“Last year, one out of 12 homicides that happened in our community had a nexus to domestic violence,” Johnson said. “This year, one in three — one in three of our lives lost — were predicated on a domestic violence incident.
“And these are results of patterns that could have been addressed before they turned deadly, which is why I’m so happy that we have our community partners here with us.”
Efforts being made
Each time Kansas City police officers are called to a domestic violence incident, Graves said they administer what they know as the Lethality Assessment Program. The screening tool, she said, includes a series of questions to determine whether there’s a risk of escalating violence in this type of situation.
The goal being to connect “high-risk victims with immediate safety planning and services,” Graves said.
“Many times we are taken up on the offer of a safety plan, resources, shelter, a way out,” the chief said. “But sometimes we are not. We let our survivors know there is a way, there is a lifeline.”
Police also deploy domestic violence support teams to help detectives with residence checks, locating victims and witnesses and conducting area canvases, Graves said. These teams also check for individuals with active warrants.
As authorities struggle to address the rising domestic violence, Johnson said her office is attempting to be “proactive before a case even comes across our desk.” A new unit, she said, is dedicated to targeting repeat offenders, including those accused of domestic violence, to ensure they face appropriate charges.
And victim advocates in her office work to connect victims of domestic violence with critical resources, Johnson said.
“It is not lost on me the ask that we are making when we are requesting somebody to walk into a courtroom and face the accused,” the prosecutor said. “The accused that they have a relationship with, that they might share children with, that they share a home with.
“And so we are going to do everything in our power to make cooperating with the law enforcement and the prosecution process as easy as possible.”
Ilene Shehan, of Hope House, said domestic violence is “not just a one-person problem,” but a “problem in our community. “ Hope House is a domestic violence shelter and offers services in KC.
“We work hand in hand with law enforcement,” Shehan said. “We work with the prosecutor’s office, we work with the systems. We hear what’s being missed. We hear gaps, and we are also now here working to close those gaps and figure out what else can be done.
“ ... We are here, so please, if you are in a situation and you need to get out, call us. Let us help you make a safety plan. Let us help you walk through this together.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM.
