34 Deaths in Minnesota Due to Domestic Violence

FARIBAULT, Minn. (AP) - A new report shows 34 people killed in Minnesota in 2011 died as the result of domestic violence.

The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women has been tracking domestic violence deaths since 1989. Its annual report says 23 women, four children, six family members and one man died because of domestic violence last year.

The executive director of Faribault's HOPE Center, Erica Staab, says the homicides occurred despite police involvement and court orders for protection. She says many of the women who were killed were in the process of leaving their abusers.

The coalition reports the number of domestic violence deaths has increased in the past three years.