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View the interactive map for locations and more information on the homicides of 2011:
The New Year's Eve discovery of a double homicide in Mount Pleasant brought 2011 to an end with 53 homicides statewide — a slight increase from previous years' statistics.
In 2010, 45 people were killed in homicides not justified as self-defense or police use of force. In 2009, there were 43.
The weekend shooting deaths of Leroy and Dorotha Fullwood, 70 and 69, apparently took place during a break-in, the second robbery this year to end in a slaying. But domestic violence was a far more common motive for homicides in Utah. Twenty-six people died at the hands of relatives, spouses and dating partners.
"Nearly all of our homicides were domestic — all but one," said Unified police spokesman Lt. Justin Hoyal, speaking of the homicides in the department's jurisdiction, which covers parts of Salt Lake County.
Eleven of the 12 murder-suicides in 2011 occurred within families — a sharp increase from five domestic murder-suicides in 2010. Homicides related to drugs or gangs left seven people dead; eleven additional homicides stemmed from other arguments between acquaintances.
Several of the year's homicides targeted victims who were vulnerable: children, people older than 70 and the homeless. People with disabilities and terminal illnesses accounted for 17 victims, up from 15 in 2010 and 11 in 2009.
Justified homicides decreased slightly. Nine people died in officer-involved shootings, down from 12 in 2010 (including one execution) and 10 in 2009. In the latest officer-involved shooting, West Valley City police on Thursday shot and killed Kent C. Ashworth, 49. Witnesses reported seeing Ashworth, armed with a large-caliber handgun, approach an officer in a squad car near the West Valley City Public Works Building near 2800 South and 3600 West. Police said they shot him after he ignored commands to drop his gun.
There were no unprosecuted self-defense killings by civilians in 2011; police and prosecutors deemed two such killings justified in 2010 and three in 2009.