The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has charged more than 500 domestic violence cases involving firearms this fiscal year, and 44 of those cases originated out of Middle and Western Tennessee.
This, according to two press releases that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and the Middle District of Tennessee emailed this week.
Attorney General William P. Barr created the Department of Justice’s first ever-Domestic Violence Working Group in 2019, both press releases said.
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. Lombardo has made domestic violence firearms-related investigations a priority, according to the two press releases.
“Of the more than 500 cases charged, 19 cases have been brought in Middle Tennessee. Of those 19 cases, firearms were used in 10 of the incidents. This announcement follows the recent conviction of a Chapel Hill, Tennessee man, on federal firearms charges, after he assaulted his estranged wife in June 2017 and fired multiple rounds from an assault rifle as she hid in a bedroom closet,” according to the Middle Tennessee press release.
“Though not included in the FY 2020 statistics, Laqueston Goff, 33, was convicted late last month, after a 3-day bench trial in U.S. District Court.”
And federal Western District of Tennessee officials have brought more than 25 cases this fiscal year, said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant in his respective press release.
“Here in the Western District of Tennessee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has dramatically increased the number of defendants charged with domestic violence-related firearms offenses over the last three years,” according to the Western District of Tennessee press release.
“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,” according to the Middle Tennessee press release.
“The data shows that offenders with domestic violence in their past pose a high risk of homicide. In fact, domestic violence abusers with a gun in the home are five times more likely to kill their partners.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
