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Domestic Violence Drives Increase in Murders on Staten Island

By Nicholas Rizzi | July 25, 2016 4:19pm
 The man forced his way into the First Street building last week, police said.
The man forced his way into the First Street building last week, police said.
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Flickr/nickallen

STATEN ISLAND — Murders this year in the borough have already surpassed the totals for the previous two years, according to NYPD statistics.

Despite the murder rate dropping city wide, Staten Island has had 16 murders across its four precincts, eight more than this time last year. There were 14 homicides in all of 2015 and 15 murders in 2014, according to NYPD CompStat numbers.

The majority of the murders have either been from domestic violence incidents or related circumstances, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.

There have been eight domestic violence related murders so far this year, up from just one this time last year, and an additional three with "domestic related circumstances," DA's spokesman Ryan Lavis said.

Domestic violence cases have been on the rise in Staten Island had a 64 percent increase from 2010 to 2014, the largest in the city, District Attorney Michael McMahon previously said.

"This trend is beyond troubling," McMahon has said. 

"It is not only a break in our legal framework, it is also a break in the most basic trust that connects our humanity. A breach of trust between a husband and wife, domestic partner, parent and child, aunt, grandparent."

The DA's office also expects to have between 2,700 to 2,800 domestic violence arrests this year, up from about 2,500 last year and 2,600 in 2014, the highest year on record.

Staten Island has had several high profile, domestic violence related murders this year, starting in February with the boyfriend who fatally stabbed his girlfriend, her 4-month-old and 1-year-old daughters to death inside a hotel.

To help combat the rising domestic violence rates, the city opened the borough's first Family Justice Center last month, designed to be a "one-stop" shop for victims of domestic violence and their families.

Aside from murder, rape and grand larceny auto on Staten Island has had slight increases compared to this time last, according to CompStat numbers.

Other tracked crimes — robbery, felony assault, burglary and grand larceny — have decreased compared to this time last year, according to CompStat.