131 people died from domestic violence last year in N.C.

Barbara Rodriguez

RALEIGH, N.C. 

North Carolina's attorney general says domestic violence killed 131 people in the state last year, and he's urging victims to get court-ordered protection against their abusers.

Attorney General Roy Cooper said today the problem is being "swept under the rug." He said only eight people killed in 2008 had taken out protective orders, and only three were current when the victim died.

Mecklenburg County had the highest number of deaths at 14. But Cooper said he was surprised by the statistics in some smaller rural counties, where as many as five deaths were reported.

The statistics were collected under a 2007 state law that ordered all counties to report domestic violence deaths. The study provides the first comprehensive assessment of such deaths in North Carolina.