Women killing men remains a rarity in the United States. Nationally, in 2012, about 7.5 percent of all murder offenders were women. The St. Louis area, however, has had two recent alleged murders in which women were the charged assailants.
On Sunday morning, 60-year-old Denise J. Hein reportedly called police to report that her brother-in law was shot in an Affton home. When police arrived, they found Gary Baranyi dead. Hein and he had gone to the residence to check on the house and dogs for the home’s owners, and a “domestic argument” reportedly ensued. Hein now faces first-degree murder charges and armed criminal action charges.
Earlier, in May, 17-year-old Kaila Chambers allegedly stabbed her 19-year-old ex-boyfriend, Thearon Maxey, in north St. Louis, police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon.
Of 12,765 murder victims in the United States in 2012, just 260 were committed by “other family members”—which do not include spouses or siblings—according to the FBI. And of the 260 murders involving “other family members," 10 involved arguments over money or property, and 107 fell into the “other arguments” category.
Hein’s alleged murder involving her brother-in-law is statistically rare, while Chambers’ case is one of many involving boyfriends and girlfriends, even if they've split up. According to FBI statistics, boyfriends were charged in 494 cases in the U.S. in 2012, while girlfriends were charged in 168 cases. (What is somewhat unusual with Chambers' case is the alleged murder weapon: a butcher knife. "Knives/cutting instruments" were used in 1,589 murders, while firearms were used in 8,855 cases.)
Maybe the most chilling statistic in the FBI’s 2012 murder reports, though, is that no one was charged in more than 28 percent of the reported murders.
