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Richmond’s 2nd least deadly year since 1964

Thirty-seven people have been murdered in Richmond in 2011, Richmond’s 2nd least deadly year since 1961. There were only 13 homicides in the East End, an improvement on the 14 recorded in 2010 and a total bested in recent decades only by the 11 in 2008/9 in 2009 (and a far cry from the 27 as recent as 2004 and 41 in 1993).

Of the 13 killings in the East End in 2011, 8 were located in public housing complexes or high-density low-income apartments adjacent to public housing. In June, three homeless individuals killed another homeless man in a vacant building on Oliver Hill Way. In August, a man was killed during an apparent robbery at the Chimbo Market. December saw a mysterious shooting that ended on 25th Street and the frightening Christmas Eve double shooting and kidnapping.

There were no killings in the Fulton/Montrose areas this year.

Arrests have been made in 9 of the 13 killings in the East End, a 69% clearance rate:

NAMEDATELOCATIONARRESTED
1. Peter Alisqwe1-252100 Phaup StOPEN
2. Gary Green1-281900 Redd St Gervon Davis, 20, 1200 blk N.22nd St
3. David Brown6-16900 Oliver Hill WayJohn Miglucci , 32, of no fixed address
4. John Winston8-14500 Chimborazo BlvdMadison Otis, 19, 300 blk West 12 St
5. Latonio Bratton8-212500 Bethel StDwight D. Johnson, 2400 blk Wright Ave
6. Ronald Carter9-42500 Rosetta StOPEN
7. Jamel Cobb9-182100 Newbourne StKareem M. Tillar, 21, 200 blk Buffalo Rd
8. Thomas Kelly9-191100 N.20th StOPEN
9. Maurquan Brown9-201300 Coalter StQuotez Pair, 24, 5200 blk Gillespie Ave
10. Lewis Johnson10-082000 Creighton RdMarcel Cheatham, 19, 3100 blk Nine Mile Rd
11. Bonnie C. Marrow12-221100 N.25th StOPEN
12.Edward Bowmer Jr.12-24800 N.35th StJamal Louis Clemons, 27, 700 blk N.35th St
13.Robin Clapp12-24800 N.35th StJamal Louis Clemons, 27, 700 blk N.35th St

East End Homicides in 2011

Suprisingly for a year that ended with a remarkably low body count, every month in 2011 saw at least one homicide in the city. Richmond has seen in recent years months without a killing: no one was killed in RVA in November 2009, or in February or June 2010. These remain the only such quiet months in at least the last 31 years.

Between 1982 to 2006, Richmond saw at least 63 killings (and often many more). The number started rising in the mid-1980s and jumped to 100 in 1988. The yearly toll stayed over 100 for 10 straight years, hitting 161 in 1994 and 140 in 1997. The count dipped back into the 70s, jumped towards 100 in 2004, and has fallen dramatically the past 5 years. The historic low of 32 was achieved in 2008, with 2009 close behind with 39.

On the way to a devastating body count of 161, 1994 saw 2 months with over 20 killings, and only one month in the single digits. The violence peaked in August 1994 when 25 killings left someone dead almost every day of that month. There were more people killed in July and August of 1994 than in all of 2011. There were an equal number of murders that April alone to the total of the first 8 months of 2011. There were more murders that year than in 2007, 2008, 2009, and the 1st half of 2010 combined. It was rough, to say the least.

Here is the homicide count and population data by year for Richmond 1934-2011: Murder in Richmond 1934-2011 (PDF).

This is an updated version of a piece first published in July 2010.

22 comments

Alex 12/29/2011 at 8:55 AM

Unfortunately, it was back loaded which creates the impression that things are worsening. Hopefully that is not the case.

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John M 12/29/2011 at 9:03 AM

Similar thing happened in 2007, there were 5 killings in December in the East End. The next year RVA had 20 *fewer* homicides.

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Alex 12/29/2011 at 9:06 AM

That’s encouraging.

I guess as long as the police can keep catching those responsible, there are only but so many folks around that would do such a thing and these things should be wave shaped.

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Alex 12/29/2011 at 9:44 AM

Not to quibble or diminish the tragedy, but given that current understanding of the Marrow incident was that it was a stray bullet, should she still count as a homicide in these stats? As far as I understand, it sounds like something that might end up getting charged as a manslaughter.

And if we are counting manslaughters, why not count the poor soul who got plowed over by the drunk guy a few weeks back?

The two seem equivalent at this point.

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John M 12/29/2011 at 10:15 AM

Alex – I’ll be glad to rewrite this and bring the numbers down when I get that officially classified.

Things have gotten so weird around here recently, I wanted to get this out for some perspective.

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Paul Hammond 12/29/2011 at 10:18 AM

This is good, but grim news. What has changed I wonder that has brought the count down? I still see a lot of bad guys and bad things happening on the streets where I live. The guns are still there too, they just haven’t been pulling the trigger much, thank God.

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JD 12/29/2011 at 11:11 AM

John, thank you for constantly keeping things in perspective.

I always remind myself that I’m more likely to perish in a car accident than from a gunshot wound. By living in an auto-dependent area that requires more automobile-use, one increases their risk of fatality. Residents of CH who complain about violence in the neighborhood and choose to leave for “greener pastures” need to ponder this fact. Is one truly safer living in Midlothian or Short Pump?

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/12/mapping-traffic-fatalities-america/615/

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John M 12/29/2011 at 11:41 AM

Paul – I’ve seen articles in the past where police attribute the drop to the move to sector policing, and a strong push to get known shooters of off the street. Perhaps Project Exile. I’m sure that VCU/MVC deserves some credit for keeping folks alive, too.

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John M 12/30/2011 at 9:38 AM

This got picked up Mark Holmberg for wtvr:

We can credit good policing and citizen cooperation.

But what’s really changed is Richmond. Once rundown neighborhoods have been revitalized. Block after block, blight and tolerance for bad behavior has been beaten back.

What’s left is violence concentrating largely in pockets of concentrated poverty.

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Ross 12/30/2011 at 9:46 AM

@John & Paul, I’d like to see us track shootings as well as murders. Like John said, how much has the proximity and skill of VCU kept people alive that would have died 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago?

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ray 12/30/2011 at 11:39 AM

Good point, Ross.

I’ve heard Commonwealth Attorney Michael Herring say that advances in life saving methods have been at least partially responsible for the drop in homicides. In other words, you’ve got a much better chance of surviving a gunshot or other wound now than you did several years ago.

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John M 12/31/2011 at 9:27 AM

NBC12 picked up the story:
Murder rate continues to drop in Richmond
http://www.nbc12.com/story/16421216/murder-rate-continues-to-drop-in-richmond

They got the big idea right.

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C. Wayne Taylor 01/16/2012 at 2:40 AM

It appears that the decline in homicides in the city of Richmond still trails the rates in surrounding jurisdictions.
http://cityhallreview.com/2012/01/15/richmond-area-homicides-2011-comparison/

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