Table 4 Homicide event characteristics. North Carolina residents, 2004.

	Females		Males
	n	%	n	%
Relationship of victim to suspect
Spouse/ex‐spouse	15	11.2	3	0.7
Current/former boyfriend/girlfriend	23	17.2	16	3.6
Parent/stepparent	1	0.7	6	1.4
Child/stepchild	2	1.5	15	3.4
Other family member*	3	2.1	10	2.1
Friend	1	0.7	14	3.1
Acquaintance	7	5.2	58	12.9
Other person, known to victim†	1	0.7	9	2.0
Stranger	1	0.7	14	3.1
Law enforcement officer injured in the line of duty	0	0.0	1	0.2
Number of suspects known, but relationship of victim to suspect unknown	40	29.9	136	30.3
No identified suspect or suspects	40	29.9	175	39.0
Homicide related to argument, abuse or conflict‡	79	75.9	193	64.5
Intimate partner violence	59	56.7	39	13.0
Argument over money or property	2	1.9	10	3.3
Other argument, abuse or conflict	18	17.3	144	48.2
Homicide was precipitated by another crime‡	23	22.1	74	24.8
Robbery	9	8.7	42	14.1
Rape or sexual assault	6	5.8	0	0.0
Other crime	6	4.5	28	6.4
Homicide was drug related‡	7	6.7	49	16.4
Victim used a weapon‡	2	1.9	29	9.7

*Includes sibling, in‐law, intimate partner of parent, child of suspect's boyfriend/girlfriend, and other family members.

†Includes babysitter, co‐worker, rival gang member, and other persons known to victim.

‡Available for only n = 104 females and n = 299 males with known circumstances.