On the Tuesday after July 4, a 40-year-old woman was arguing with her longtime boyfriend in their Villa Park home when he grabbed her, put her in a headlock, punched her in the face and strangled her.
The woman reached for anything she could use to defend herself and found a screwdriver, which she plunged into her boyfriend’s face, according to court records. He let go, and she ran out of their home, flagging down a passing driver for help.
The case is one of the nearly 60% of Denver’s ongoing felony domestic violence cases that involve strangulation — an act that greatly increases the risk that a victim of domestic violence will be killed and should raise immediate red flags for first responders, police officers and healthcare workers.
Strangulation often is missed or overlooked. The survivor may have no visible injuries or may not mention strangulation in light of other acts of domestic violence. That can mean authorities miss key opportunities to intervene before domestic violence situations turn fatal.
Denver leaders hope to change that through a new, citywide approach to strangulation cases that is designed to help professionals — including police officers, paramedics and healthcare workers — recognize and respond to strangulation cases thoroughly and consistently.
“This is a hidden epidemic,” Denver District Attorney John Walsh said at a news conference at the Rose Andom Center on Tuesday, when city leaders announced the new approach. “And that’s why we are here today.”
Thirteen city leaders committed their agencies to principles detailed in a newly developed citywide strangulation protocol, a 39-page document that lays out best practices for various professionals to follow when responding to survivors of strangulation.
The hope is that the new approach will ensure authorities recognize the seriousness of strangulation, respond with appropriate urgency and maintain a consistent approach across professions, said Whitney Woods, executive director of the Rose Andom Center, a Denver nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Leaders at Denver Health, Denver 911 and the city’s police fire and safety departments each committed to following the new approach, as well as leaders at several victim advocacy organizations.
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Domestic violence spiked in Denver in 2024 and has leveled off since, according to police and prosecution data. Denver police reported 7,660 domestic violence incidents in 2025, which was up about 3% from 2024 and up 46% from 2019, said Amanda Blevins, advancement director at the Rose Andom Center.
The district attorney’s office handled 211 felony domestic violence cases involving strangulation in 2023, 448 in 2024 and 411 in 2025. So far this year, the office has pursued 190 such cases, spokesman Matt Jablow said.
Strangulation occurs when one person restricts another person’s breathing by applying pressure to their neck. An attacker can use their hands or objects to cut off air flow.
When a victim is strangled by their partner, that victim is 7.5 times more likely to be killed by their partner than domestic violence victims who were not strangled, according to the protocol.
“A call that looks minor may be the most serious warning that we ever get in these scenarios,” Denver police Cmdr. Matt Clark said.
The protocol was developed with funding from a $1 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women awarded to the Rose Andom Center in 2022.
The new approach in Denver comes months after Colorado legislators mandated that all police officers use a standardized lethality assessment tool to screen victims of domestic violence and immediately connect people flagged as high-risk to additional help.
The new law, signed in June, will require law enforcement officers to run through a 12-question checklist with victims of domestic violence beginning July 1, 2027.
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