CHICAGO (WLS) — Cook County is in the midst of a “domestic violence crisis.”
State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, along with survivor advocates, has shared a stark message with the ABC7 I-Team about the hidden threats lurking behind closed doors.
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While Chicago’s leaders are cautiously optimistic about a decrease in certain types of violent crimes, they are also raising concerns over a surge in domestic violence incidents.
In 2025, Chicago has already witnessed 29 domestic-related homicides. Recent weeks have seen the city grappling with the aftermath of disturbing stabbing attacks in Streamwood and on the South Side, with children among the victims and investigations ongoing.
Advocates and the county’s top prosecutor tell the I-Team action to address the problem needs to be immediate.
“It’s a house on fire,” Burke told the I-Team in an exclusive interview. “We knew immediately that we had to focus on domestic violence.”
‘Help me!’
It was a brutal attack that left a mother dead, two young boys seriously injured, and a search for the man responsible crossing state lines.
Teone Jones, 33, was discovered stabbed and bleeding to death in her South Side two flat on the night of Feb. 20. Prosecutors say Jones’s two young sons were also stabbed and one was kidnapped by their father, 39-year-old Marcus Bausley.
After he was critically injured, the older son managed to get away from Bausley after the attack and ran to neighbor Cynthia Keel’s home for help.
Keel’s doorbell camera captured video of the young boy banging on her front door.
“And then [I heard] this bam, bam, bam and ‘Help Me!'” Keel recalled.
Jones’s other son was briefly missing and authorities issued a nationwide Amber Alert. Eventually, police said he too was able to get away from Bausley, and walk into a gas station searching for help.
Bausley was arrested days later after a police chase in Indiana, and he is now facing murder and attempted murder charges. In April, court records show Bausley pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The horrific case is one of dozens of domestic violence murders just this year in Cook County that have highlighted the growing trend for State’s Attorney Burke.
“As my first assistant likes to say, if we can’t stop violence in the home, we are never going to stop violence on the street,” Burke said.
The newly-formed ‘Special Victims Bureau’
As the newly-installed State’s Attorney for Cook County, Burke is promising a tougher prosecutorial approach on all violent crime, but it’s domestic violent crime that she said shakes her to the core, and is a top priority in the office’s new and aggressive plan.
“We have restructured the entire system to make sure that we have the best people in place,” Burke said. “We have our most experienced State’s Attorneys ready to take on those types of murder cases, so that we get people justice in a quick fashion.”
The State’s Attorney’s office has created a new bureau, Burke explained, called the “Special Victims Bureau” which focuses on domestic violence crimes, as well as sexual assault, crimes against children and hate crimes.
Part of the overhaul that’s reportedly already producing tangible results includes revised communications with law enforcement and the court, in part to lock up those considered most dangerous.
An internal Cook County Sheriff’s report – obtained by the I-Team through a Freedom of Information Act request – states since December, the number of people ordered detained for all charges has increased by 47% through the end of March, compared to the month before Burke took office.
The report found pre-trial detentions for domestic battery have increased by more than 80%.
Burke said prosecutors are now weighing additional factors when deciding if someone should be held in-custody before trial.
“[Have] there been allegations of abuse on children? Have there been other incidences of violence in the home? Are there weapons in the home?” Burke explained. “Those are the things we look at before, and we have to make sure we present to the judge when we [request] detention.”
‘It has been an extraordinarily deadly year.’
Data reviewed by the I-Team found domestic-related homicides in the city of Chicago have increased from 36 in 2019, to 44 in 2024, according to the city’s violence reduction dashboard.
Not even halfway through 2025, the city has recorded 29 homicides as of June 2.
Advocates say this is an undercount since it doesn’t include all of Cook County. The lack of a centralized database of crime statistics including domestic violence crimes, they say, is a major issue for Illinois, and hindrance for those tracking the problem.
Amanda Pyron, President and CEO of “The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence” said despite violent crime overall trending down, domestic-related crime has gone up.
“Why is this happening to domestic violence victims when we’re solving it in so many other places? My hypothesis is we’ve invested a lot more resources in community based violence. And if we invested those same resources in combating domestic violence homicides, we’d likely see the same results,” Pyron said.
“It has been an extraordinarily deadly year,” Pyron told the I-Team.
While Teone Jones’ South Side neighbors are mourning her loss, some are using the moment to try to better protect others experiencing domestic violence at home.
Candace Collins, who lives just a few doors down from where Jones was murdered, said she’s on a mission to fight for more survivor resources.
As a neighbor and court advocate, Collins said she has shown up for every single court hearing for Jones’s accused murderer, providing a voice on behalf of the boys, and their murdered mother.
“If we are not there speaking out or saying anything supporting the victims, the court might let him out [and] put them on electronic monitoring,” Collins said.
Family members tell the I-Team Jones’s two boys are recovering and doing well, but will have a long road ahead dealing with the physical and emotional scars from their accused father.
Cook County’s top prosecutor said she’s listening.
“Every single time a woman has been beaten, choked, killed in front of her children, it really cuts to my heart,” Burke said. “Those are the cases that wake me up in the middle of the night.”
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