Braisen Cain, 42, is the city’s 18th victim of intimate partner violence so far this year, a significant increase from last year. Experts say cases are growing more violent, with survivors reporting an escalation of threats like use of guns and strangulation.

Braisen Nicole Cain was a “boy mom,” a single parent of five sons who constantly had them out in nature, playing with dogs, camping, fishing and paddling.

She was devoted to her boys, was pregnant with a sixth, and was a light to other mothers in her family. On Saturday, friends and family wore purple, Cain’s favorite color, as they attended her funeral at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kansas City.

Cain, 42, was killed in her front yard on Aug. 6, struck first by a pickup and then shot 21 times. Her former boyfriend, Arel Dawk

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