Violence Free Minnesota adds Jerry Skluzacek to We Remember memorial – West Central Tribune

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on Friday remembered Jerome “Jerry” Skluzacek, 55, of New London, as the 14th confirmed domestic violence-related homicide victim in Minnesota in 2024.

Free of violence

We remember

is a memorial to victims of intimate partner homicide in Minnesota. Each victim is someone’s child, parent, sibling, family member, intimate partner, friend, neighbor, or co-worker.

The New London man was shot and killed during an attempted carjacking Tuesday afternoon on the Highway 71/23 bypass southeast of Willmar. He was allegedly shot by Ameer Musa Matariyeh, 25, of Minneapolis and is charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and fleeing police.

Matariyeh allegedly fled the scene of a domestic assault call in Minneapolis earlier, leading officers from multiple counties on a chase west to Kandiyohi County, where he is also accused of previously shooting a man. of Lake Lillian who survived his injury.

According to the Violence Free Minnesota We Remember memorial, Matariyeh shot from a balcony early Tuesday afternoon at his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend, who were there trying to recover some of their belongings. They were not hit by the gunfire.

Matariyeh is the father of his ex-girlfriend’s son. At some point, Matariyeh left the apartment and fled the scene in a vehicle while crisis negotiators contacted him by phone.

“Jerry…leaves behind a fiancee and at least two children,” his We Remember memorial stated. “Jerry was described as someone who was ‘always willing to help people’, had a good sense of humor and could ‘pretty much fix anything.’ “

Founded in 1978, Violence Free Minnesota, formerly known as the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, is a statewide coalition of more than 90 member programs working to end relationship abuse. It changed its name several years ago to better reflect its ultimate goal of living in a violence-free state.

The organization’s mission is to end relationship abuse, create safety, and achieve social justice for all.

For more than 30 years, Violence Free Minnesota has collected information on victims killed due to relationship violence in its annual report

Homicide report.

The report was previously known as the Femicide Report.

The We Remember memorial is updated each time the organization is notified of someone’s death due to relationship violence in Minnesota.

Domestic violence statistics

The murder of Jerry Skluzacek demonstrates the widespread effects of domestic violence, affecting a bystander nearly 100 miles from where a domestic violence-related incident began.

From 2013 to 2023 in Minnesota, there were 56 bystander or responder deaths, 44 of which were due to firearms, according to Violence Free Minnesota.

“We captured this data not only to provide a window into the scope of intimate partner homicide in Minnesota, emphasizing that it is a public health problem rather than a private matter, but also to underscore the enormous danger of firearms and domestic violence. in combination. “, states the organization in the 2023 Homicide Report. “When abusive partners have access to firearms, not only are the victims/survivors in danger, but also their family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances and even complete strangers. ”.

In 2023, at least 11 bystanders or interveners died as a result of domestic violence, according to the 2023 Homicide Report.

There are several risk factors for death due to intimate partner violence, including the victim’s attempts to leave the abuser, prior threats to kill the victim, the abuser’s access to firearms, the abuser’s history of violence, and strangulation of the victim.

“We cannot emphasize enough that the presence of these risk factors, even a single one, indicates that a victim/survivor may be at increased risk for homicide,” Violence Free Minnesota stated in the 2023 Homicide Report. Survivors should always be taken seriously by every system they come into contact with. These homicides can be prevented.”

At its core, relationship abuse is rooted in power, control, and oppression, according to Violence Free Minnesota. Relationship abuse is about the desire to control a partner and implementing that desire through emotionally, sexually, financially, and/or physically abusive patterns of behavior.

Abusers use a variety of tactics to maintain control, including insults/belittlement, economic abuse, possessiveness, threats, isolation, gaslighting and sexual violence, according to Violence Free Minnesota.

Non-physical abuse and coercive control can be as extreme as physical violence, and the lack of known physical violence does not make abusive relationships any less dangerous. Some abusers progressively escalate forms of non-physical abuse before killing their partners, even without a history of physical violence.

Safe Avenues in Willmar provides domestic and sexual violence victim advocacy services to a seven-county area in southwestern Minnesota. To contact Safe Avenues toll-free, call 800-792-4210.

Contact information for Safe Avenues offices is as follows: