Fort Worth, TX -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/25/2015 --On the morning of March 17, 2015, police officers arrived at a Fort Worth home to investigate the shooting of a 73-year-old man and his 76-year-old wife. Their adult daughter found their two bodies in their bedroom at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, after going to their house to check on them. The daughter had placed a call to her parents the night before without receiving an answer. No one else lived in the house with the couple. It is still unknown whether previous instances of domestic violence occurred in the home.

Murder-Suicide Suspected by Police

According to the police, the crime scene appears to be the result of a murder-suicide. The police suspect that the murder-suicide was initiated by the man, who killed his wife first before killing himself. Their daughter has told police that the woman suffered from dementia, while the man was battling depression. Paramedics had been called on Monday when the woman suffered a fall and was unable to get up on her own. At this point, a motive for the murders-suicide is unknown, and police have told reporters that the investigation is still ongoing.

Family Violence on the Rise in Texas

Sadly, the murder-suicide isn't all that unique to the state of Texas—instead, police throughout the state report high number of domestic violence, typically against women.

Read more about family violence in Fort Worth here:
http://www.criminalattorneyfortworth.com/family-violence/

Of all the counties in Texas, Dallas has the highest number of women killed by intimate partners each year as reported by Dallas News. In 2013, 119 women throughout the state died at the hands of a current or former partner. And in 2014, there were 29 domestic homicide victims in the counties of Dallas, Collin, Rockwell, and Denton counties alone. In Tarrant County, there were 11 domestic homicides in 2013. 75 percent of the 119 victims in 2013 were killed at home; only 18 percent were killed in a public place. What's more, a husband or current boyfriend killed 82 percent, and the majority of the women killed were shot. As stated above, it is currently unknown whether or not the March 17, 2015 murder-suicide was a joint plan, or if the man planned the attack on his own.

Reducing Family Violence in the State

There is no doubt that something needs to be done to address the growing number of domestic violence cases in the state. Victims of domestic and family violence should contact authorities immediately for help.