Table 4

Characteristics of suspects of fire or burn-related homicides and undetermined deaths among all ages in the USA, NVDRS, 2003–2020

CharacteristicsSuspects, No. (%)
Total1163
Age group, years
5–1960 (8.8)
20–44473 (69.7)
45–64134 (19.7)
65 and over12 (1.8)
Unknown/missing (n=484)*
Sex
Male645 (78.0)
Female182 (22.0)
Unknown/missing (n=336)*
Race and ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic377 (36.3)
Black or African American, non-Hispanic295 (28.4)
Other, non-Hispanic†266 (24.4)
Hispanic, any race102 (9.8)
Unknown/missing (n=123)*
Suspect attempted suicide after incident41 (3.5)
Mentally ill suspect54 (4.6)
Suspect was also a victim in the incident‡50 (4.3)
Suspected alcohol use by suspect§50 (7.2)
Suspected other substance use by suspect§52 (7.5)
Suspect had prior contact with law enforcement§71 (10.3)
Victim–suspect pairs, No. (%)
Total1422
Victim to suspect relationship¶ **
Child/stepchild††178 (18.2)
Intimate partner‡‡156 (15.9)
Acquaintance§§154 (15.7)
Stranger114 (11.6)
Friend/roommate (not intimate partner)/schoolmate88 (9.0)
Parent/grandparent/stepparent¶¶74 (7.6)
Sibling, grandchild or other family member (eg, cousin, uncle, etc) or in-law64 (6.5)
Rival gang member14 (1.4)
Other***138 (14.1)
Unknown/missing (n=442)*
Suspect history of abuse of victim¶80 (5.6)
Suspect was a caregiver for this victim¶153 (10.8)
  • Column percentage may not sum to 100.0% because of rounding error. Table includes 935 incidents involving 1087 homicide victims and 59 victims with undetermined intent (total victims: 1146). There were 1163 suspects identified, resulting in 1422 victim–suspect pairs.

  • *Unknown and missing values were omitted from the denominator when calculating percentages.

  • †Includes American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic; Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; two or more races, non-Hispanic; or other/unspecified, non-Hispanic.

  • ‡Variable added in 2013.

  • §Variable added in 2016.

  • ¶Variable described in victim–suspect pair.

  • **NVDRS recommends use of the sentence ‘The victim is the ____________ of the suspect’ as a guide for an appropriate description of the primary relationship of the victim to the suspect.

  • ††Includes child, stepchild or child of suspect’s boyfriend/girlfriend.

  • ‡‡Includes spouse, ex-spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend; ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend; girlfriend or boyfriend, unspecified whether current or ex; or victim was new partner of suspect’s ex-partner.

  • §§An ‘acquaintance’ is someone with or about whom the victim has had some prior interaction or knowledge.

  • ¶¶Includes parent, grandparent, stepparent or intimate partner of suspect’s parent.

  • ***Includes foster child; babysitter; current/former work relationship; other person, known to victim; or victim was law enforcement officer injured in the line of duty.

  • NVDRS, National Violent Death Reporting System.