The Knoxville Police Department said that calls for help in domestic violence situations have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Knox County.
Officials said that someone calls 911 for help with domestic violence situations every 30 minutes in the county. The rise could be due to people being stuck in their houses with no opportunities to let other people know that there could be a problem at home, officials said.
So far, officials said that there have been two deaths related to domestic violence. One of those was Nikita Nunez, 29. Police said that she was killed by her husband in January.
Law enforcement is joining with Nunez's family to urge people to reach out for help if they are in a dangerous situation.
"I would rather 1,000 people report the slightest thing and I can go find out it was nothing, than one person not report something and that allows someone to get seriously hurt," said Shaun Sakovich, an investigator with KPD.
