SPECIAL REPORT: MURDERED ON THE JOB

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS OFTEN INTERACT WITH VIOLENT CLIENTS WITHOUT PROTECTION. INSIDE THREE TRAGIC CASES AND THE EFFORTS BEING MADE TO SAVE LIVES

-  JOHNNY DODD and KYLER ALVORD

Social Workers in Danger

It's one of the most dangerous professions in the nation, yet it's rarely talked about as risky. Every day, social workers across the country are on the front lines-often alone in homes in neighborhoods plagued by violence-caring for some of society's most vulnerable and potentially unstable individuals.

The statistics are disturbing: Social workers are nearly five times as likely to suffer a serious violent injury ranging from sexual assault to murder while on the job than those working in other sectors, according to a 2018 Bureau of Labor study. And a survey earlier this year of more than 1,100 social workers revealed that nearly 60 percent had experienced at least one incident of client violence. Says Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin, who has worked toward legislation on the issue since 2019: "Making sure they are safe on the job is not only the right thing to do, but it's essential."

Here, the harrowing stories of those killed on their jobs while trying to help others.

A Shocking Murder, a Husband's Vow

Matt Zenner still remembers how limitless the future felt when he was a newlywed on the August afternoon in 2004 just before his wife of three months, Teri, a 26-year-old social worker at the Johnson County Mental Health Center in Mission, Kans., failed to show up at practice for the youth soccer team she coached. "We were just starting our lives together," says Matt, who initially assumed his wife was running late from her responsibilities at work. "We had so many things planned."