A look at Chicago female homicide victims

For more information about homicides in Chicago this year, check out the Chicago murder map.

By Tracy Swartz
RedEye

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which typically shines a light on violence against women.

"Ninety-five percent of victims of domestic violence are women," said Cory Ryan, executive director of Connections for Abused Women and their Children, a domestic violence education group that runs a shelter for battered women.

In Chicago, there have been 43 female homicide victims from January through Oct. 7, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. Last year, 11.5 percent of 511 murder victims were female, according to a Chicago Police Department report.

Domestic strife was a top motive for murder in Chicago last year behind gang violence and armed robbery.

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, RedEye analyzed information about the 43 female homicide victims in Chicago.

Of these victims:
>> 69 percent were black.
>> About one third were between the ages of 20 and 29 when they died.
>> About one in four were older than 40 when they died.
>> 48 percent were shot to death.
>> 16 percent were strangled to death.
>> Nearly 14 percent were stabbed to death.
>> Nearly 12 percent were killed in Austin, the most of any community area.

tswartz@tribune.com

For more information about homicides in Chicago this year, check out the Chicago murder map.