Between July 2022 and the end of 2025, 89 Nebraskans lost their lives to domestic abuse. Thirty of those deaths happened in 2025 alone, and the state saw more intimate partner murder-suicides last year than in 2023 and 2024 combined.
Those figures come from the 2026 Annual Report of the Nebraska Domestic Abuse Death Review Team (DADRT), released this month by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. The report is the clearest picture yet of how domestic violence is ending lives in Nebraska, and what might have changed the outcome.
A Closer Look at the Cases
The Domestic Abuse Death Review Act took effect in 2022, creating a multidisciplinary team tasked with examining domestic abuse deaths and identifying patterns that could inform prevention. Since then, the team has completed 41 comprehensive case reviews covering 46 victims, digging into public records and interviews with friends and family to understand what happened before each death.
That team includes appointees from across Nebraska’s response system, including Christon MacTaggart, Executive Director of the Nebraska Coalition, and representatives from organizations in the Nebraska Coalition’s network.
The reviews turned up a sobering pattern: of the 46 victims examined, only one had been in contact with a domestic violence agency in the year before their death. Yet family members knew about prior violence in 74% of cases, and friends knew in 65%. The people closest to victims often saw warning signs long before a crisis. The report’s recommendations lean into that finding, calling for training that reaches beyond service providers, to librarians, salon workers, customer service representatives, delivery drivers, and anyone who might be the first to notice something is wrong.
Who Is Most at Risk
The report’s three years of data show clear patterns in who is affected. About 56% of victims were female, and 87% of perpetrators were male. Women were far more likely to be killed by a current or former intimate partner: 82% of female victims, compared to 28% of male victims, most of whom were killed by another family or household member.
Roughly a quarter of all domestic abuse deaths since 2022 were murder-suicides, nearly all involving a current or former intimate partner. In 2025, that share jumped to 43% of deaths, a trend the report flags as an emerging concern.
Firearms were involved in about half of the deaths the team tracked. In response, the Attorney General’s Office has established a new subcommittee to examine Nebraska’s process, or lack of one, for removing firearms from people who are legally prohibited from possessing them under a protection order.
The Hidden Toll on Nebraska’s Children
The report also documents how many children are affected when domestic abuse turns fatal. Thirty-two children were present when a parent or caregiver was killed. Ten children were killed by a family member during a domestic abuse incident. More than 80 children in total were directly affected by the deaths the team reviewed.
A safety net stretched thin
The report arrives alongside a warning about resources. Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding, historically one of the largest federal sources supporting emergency shelter and long-term survivor services, has fallen sharply in Nebraska, from nearly $20 million in 2018 to less than $5 million in 2024.
“These reductions directly affect the ability of programs to maintain consistent emergency and long-term support for survivors,” the report states.
That strain lands directly on the Nebraska Coalition’s network of 20 service-providing organizations that ensure survivors in every county have access to emergency shelter, transportation, medical advocacy, legal assistance, and ongoing support.
What Comes Next
Alongside the report, the Domestic Abuse Death Review Team and the Attorney General’s Office are launching a free, five-session virtual training series beginning October 22, with additional sessions running through September 2027. The series covers domestic violence dynamics, stalking, lethality, survivor-centered practices, perpetrator accountability, investigation, prosecution, Nebraska law, and coordinated community response, built directly from what the review team has learned case by case.
How You Can Help
- Advocate with your legislators for adequate funding for domestic violence services. Learn how to get started.
- Support local service-providing organizations directly through donations and volunteerism. Find your local organization.
- Educate yourself about the warning signs of abuse and help educate others around you. Request a training for your community or organization.
- Learn how to help someone experiencing violence, even if you don’t work in the field. Family and friends are often the first to know, and how they respond can make a big difference. Learn how to support a survivor.
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