Mental health professionals say the stabbing death of Hockessin psychiatrist Dr. Caroline Ekong is an extreme reminder of the dangers faced by practitioners in that field.

The body of Ekong was found Wednesday morning in her home in the Sanford Ridge community. Christopher Frick, a 21-year-old University of Delaware student, has been charged with first-degree murder after admitting responsibility for the killing, New Castle County Police said. Authorities have said he planned the killing for at least a year.

"Of course, we are shocked and we feel bad for her and the family. At the same time, it alerts us to the ever-present danger that anything can happen if we get complacent," said Dr. Pablo Villafuerte, a psychiatrist who has practiced in Wilmington for more than three decades.

Violence against psychiatrists and other mental health professionals is not rare. A Department of Justice survey found 55,882 instances of workplace violent crimes against mental health professionals between 2005 and 2009 – four times more than for the average American worker.

In surveys for a 2008 book on violence toward medical professionals, Dr. William Dubin, chairman of Temple University School of Medicine's psychiatry department, found the assault rate for psychiatrists to be 68 per 1,000 – three times higher than the assault rate for nurses.

But Ekong's death appears to be an outlier, according to industry professionals. Police said letters and emails indicate Frick was obsessed over Ekong for years and planned her killing three years after their "professional interaction." Ekong worked at the Rockford Center, a mental health facility in Stanton.
**Preperations**

 Wake/Service at Doherty Funeral Home: Friday, November 6th @ 4pm-6pm

 Mass at St. John the Beloved: Saturday, November 7, 2015 @ 11am