The issue of femicide hit the headlines in 2024 after five women were killed in Northern Ireland in the space of two months, sparking calls for action.
The spate of violence against women this summer brought the total number of femicides this year to seven, while just this month another name was added to that list as 40-year-old Karen Cummings died in a “brutal and senseless” murder in Banbridge.
Meanwhile, the total number of murders recorded to have taken place in the north this year is 15, following the investigation into the death of Mark Dorrian in the early hours of Boxing Day in Newtownards.
That figure is slightly ahead of the number of homicides reported by the PSNI last year, however there has been a significant drop in the number of homicides reported by the PSNI in recent years.
In 2002/3, 45 murders were recorded but that figure has been steadily declining since then, with the total dropping by two thirds as of this year.
The oldest person killed in 2024 was 81-year-old Patricia Aust in Bangor in June, while the youngest victim was Tavia da Costa, whose 23-month-old body was found in a property in Dungannon in October.
Two women were killed within the space of a week in Co Derry in August, while protests were sparked across the north following the killing of 23-year-old Mary Ward in south Belfast in October.
The deaths of seven men in the north this year have also led to murder investigations.
Kevin Conway
Kevin Conway (26) was shot a number of times in west Belfast in January of this year. Fergal Kane (54) and co-accused Aidan O’Keefe, 27, have been charged with the murder as part of an alleged joint enterprise.
Conway had been associated with a notorious crime organisation known as The Firm and was on bail for the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan, Co Armagh 12 months previously.
Blake Newland
Blake Newland (17) was stabbed several times during an incident in Limavady in what police believe to have been a revenge attack on February 2.
Father and son Michael McGlinchey and Andrew, both from from Roe Mill Gardens in Limavady and another son Stephen McGlinchey, from Dunmore Place in Limavady, are all jointly charged with murder.
Joseph Brennan
A man named locally as Joseph Brennan died in hospital after an incident outside licensed premises in the Cupar Street area of west Belfast on Wednesday March 6.
Police said he was found unconscious after they received a report of a serious assault just after 8pm. A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and was later released on bail.
Bobbie McKee
The body of 69-year-old father of two Bobbie was found at his home in Kilkeel in April, with his 25-year-old son Colin McKee charged with his murder.
The pensioner’s wife was seriously injured in the incident that later led to her husband’s death.
Kathryn Parton
Ms Parton’s body was found in the blood-stained bedroom of a house in Madrid Street in east Belfast on May 15.
Police believe she was attacked on May 9, but only discovered six days later when her father went to check on her.
Jamie Love, who was in a relationship with the victim and lived at the Madrid Street address, has been charged with her murder based on CCTV and witness evidence.
Patricia Aust
Patricia Aust, who was 81, was found dead at a house in Bangor’s Hawthorne Court area on Sunday June 2.
Ms Aust’s brother, 85-year-old Jim Moore of Clandeboye Place in Bangor, has appeared in court charged with her murder.
Michael McConville
Michael McConville (74) was found dead in a house in the Annaghmare Road area of Crossmaglen on Saturday evening, June 15.
Malachy Quinn, 68, of Annaghmare Road in Crossmaglen, has been charged with but denies any involvement in the killing.
Kevin Davidson
Murder victim Kevin Davidson’s body was found hidden under a sleeping bag in the back yard of a house in south Belfast where he had squatted with his alleged killers, a court heard earlier this year.
Police claimed the 34-year-old had been strangled with a clothes line following a row with his ex partner and her new boyfriend.
Jade Harrison (35) and Colm McClenaghan (32) appeared jointly charged with carrying out the murder sometime between July 9 and July 20.
Sophie Watson
The body of 57-year-old Sophie Watson was found in a house in Magherafelt on Sunday 18 August.
She had suffered a number of stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Andrzej Pajaczkowski, 43, of Ashgrove Park in Magherafelt, has been charged with her murder.
Montserrat Martorell
Six days after the death of Ms Watson, 65-year-old Montserrat Martorell, originally from Spain but who had been living in Derry, died after sustaining multiple injuries in what police described as an “horrific and sustained attack” at Harvey Street in the city on 24 August.
28-year-old Ciaran Murray from Gortfoyle Place in the city has been charged with her murder.
Rachel Simpson
The body of 43-year-old Rachel Simpson was discovered in a garage beside a property on the Castlereagh Road in September
Her 21-year-old son Nathan Simpson has appeared in court accused of her murder.
Mary Ward
Protests were sparked highlighting violence against women and girls after the body of 22-year-old Mary Ward was discovered at her home in Melrose Street in south Belfast on 1 October.
It was later revealed by police that she had previously reported being the “victim of a violent crime” in the weeks before her death. Ahmed Abdirahman, of Kinlay House, Dame Street, Dublin, has been charged with murdering the 22-year-old.
Tavia da Costa
Three people have been charged in connection with the murder investigation into the death of little Tavia da Costa, whose 23-month-old body was found at a house in Dungannon in October.
Januaria Sarmento Ximenes, 29, of Windmill Court, Dungannon, who was the partner of Tavia’s mother, appeared in court charged with her murder as well as child cruelty.
Tavia’s mother, Suzi Augusta Jacinta Da Costa, 21, of Windmill Court, Dungannon, was charged with manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty.
Tavia’s aunt Suzana Da Costa, 24, of Windmill Court, Dungannon, was also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person and child cruelty.
Karen Cummings
Karen Cummings, a 40-year-old deputy sister at Daisy Hill hospital in Newry, died at house in the Laurel Heights area of Banbridge on Saturday December 15 in what police described as a “brutal and senseless” death.
Glenn Robert King, 32, a Lurgan man of no fixed abode, and Kevin Paul McGuigan, 42, from Annacloy Park in Hillsborough, Co Down, have been charged with her murder.
Mark Dorrian
Mr Dorrian (50) died in hospital after he was found unconscious at a property in Newtownards with head injuries on Boxing Day.
Carl Kerr, (36) from Corry Street and 33-year-old Claire Rees, from Ballycullen Halt, both in Newtownards, are jointly charged with the murder.
