KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. She also covers stories in the Northland. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
—
Nearly 20 years in the making, Jackson County's domestic violence fatality review is now helping leaders study the warning signs behind deadly cases — with one goal: preventing the next tragedy.
The Rose Brooks Center is leading the charge for change.
"It was actually a domestic violence homicide-suicide that we looked at," Rose Brooks Center CEO Lisa Fleming said.
The goal of the review was to better understand the dynamics of domestic violence-related homicides, suicides, and near-fatal cases in order to develop recommendations for systemic change.
"We were able to bring in a national training team that came in and provided training to domestic violence advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, court personnel on how we can help a victim of domestic violence," Fleming said.
In 2025, the Kansas City Police Department connected the Rose Brooks Center with more than 3,000 domestic violence victims who were at risk of dying given their circumstances. Through a focused review of one incident, leaders were able to identify two key red flags that often lead to fatal outcomes: firearms and stalking.
"Those outcomes are really important for us to go and move forward and say we have this is what came from this review, this is what came from this homicide," Hope House Chief Operating Officer Ilene Shehan said. "Help us so that we don't have another homicide because we know what those gaps are."
The review was presented to Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson, sparking a partnership with local law enforcement to intervene in domestic violence cases sooner to hopefully save more lives.
"How are we organized in our policies, in our protocols, our laws, training, resources, linkages and be able to identify where there might be gaps," Fleming said.
—
