Advocates ask Legislature for $10 million increase to crime victims' services

At least 23 people were killed in Minnesota as a result of domestic violence last year.

The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women says it has been tracking deaths from domestic violence for 26 years, and each year the number of deaths has been in the double-digits.

The group is asking state lawmakers for a $10 million dollar increase in funding for crime victims' services.

"Since 2000, state funding for crime victim services has decreased over 40 percent," said Rebekah Moses, the group's spokeswoman. "The erosion of support for crime victims services has resulted in programs' inability to meet crime victims needs."

In the 26 years her group has been tracking, Moses said, the number of people killed by domestic violence in Minnesota has ranged from 12 to 40 a year.

Last year, 16 women and two men were killed by current or former partners. The other five victims were friends, intervenors, bystanders or family members.