Southern Illinois Joins Justice Dept. Push to Charge Domestic Violence-Related Gun Crimes

Fairview Heights, Ill. – In observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Department of
Justice recently announced that it has charged more than 500 domestic violence cases involving
firearms during fiscal year (FY) 2020. These charges are the result of the critical law enforcement
partnership between United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives, led by Acting Director Regina Lombardo, who has made domestic violence
firearms-related investigations a priority. Several of the cases cited were brought in the Southern
District of Illinois.

“Keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous criminal offenders is one of the Department of
Justice’s top priorities,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “This is especially important
when it comes to individuals with prior domestic violence convictions. The statistics are clear
that when domestic violence offenders have access to guns, their partners and their families are at
much greater risk of falling victim to gun violence. In fact, in some communities across America,
roughly half of the homicides are related to domestic violence. The Department of Justice is
committed to keeping guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from having them, and we
will continue investigating and prosecuting all domestic violence firearms related crimes.”

“According to the CDC, data suggests that about one in six homicide victims are killed by an
intimate partner,” said ATF Acting Director Lombardo. “Nearly half of female homicide victims in
the U.S. are killed by a current or former male intimate partner. ATF is committed to aggressively
pursuing prohibited possession of firearms due to domestic violence convictions and certain
protective orders. It is another way we prevent violent gun crime within our communities.”

Included in the national numbers were several cases prosecuted in the Southern District of Illinois
where the offenders possessed a gun after sustaining at least one domestic violence conviction.
Under federal law, individuals with domestic violence misdemeanor and felony convictions, as well
as individuals subject to domestic violence protective orders, are prohibited from possessing
firearms. The data shows that offenders with domestic violence in their past pose a higher risk of
homicide. In fact, domestic violence abusers with a gun in the home are five times more likely to
kill their partners.

“Domestic violence destroys households and damages children,” U.S. Attorney Steven D.
Weinhoeft said. “Most domestic violence cases must be handled on the state level, but in some

situations, the federal firearms laws allow us to step in and end the cycle of violence through
federal criminal prosecution. And so we work closely with our state and local partners to identify
and prioritize these important cases.”

Weinhoeft emphasized, “Domestic abusers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,
especially when they illegally possess firearms.”

For FY2020, prosecutors in the Southern District of Illinois charged 12 defendants with gun crimes
involving a direct nexus to domestic violence. In some of those cases, the offender was charged for
possessing a firearm after previously being convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence crime. In
others, the offender was charged in federal court as a felon in possession of firearm because the
offender had a history of domestic violence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also prosecutes violent crime cases where guns were used during a
domestic assault. Last week, for instance, Johnnie Taylor, 40, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was
sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm while
assaulting his girlfriend on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge. In that case, police
responded to 911 calls in the early hours of March 28, 2019. Callers saw a woman being beaten and
feared that she would be thrown off the bridge. Police arrived and noticed the victim was missing
clumps of her hair and appeared to be in distress. A 9mm handgun was recovered next to Taylor in
the driver’s side door, along with a spent shell casing found on the floorboard. Taylor was charged
and eventually pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

For more information on domestic violence or to get help, visit the National Domestic
Violence Hotline website or call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).