Many cases captured our hearts and minds this year. For many, the stories were personal. Others we cared about because they affected our neighbors, our friends. Still others we paid attention to simply because this is our community. These are our streets. Our buses. Our shops.
This year’s list of ten cases captures that. It was created based on your suggestions, our observations, and an analysis of which stories were most read or most commented on.
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From Homicide Watch D.C.’s database, the year in homicide, visualized:
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As part of our special Year in Review series, we parse out data related to this year’s homicides. The numbers in this story are pulled from Homicide Watch D.C.’s database, unless otherwise noted. For more detailed information, use the sorting features on our victims and suspects databases or explore our map.
There were 92 homicides this year, in 91 separate incidents.
Four deaths were ruled self-defense or justifiable homicide by citizen and won’t be counted in official statistics. The numbers below include those four. Read more
Congratulations and thank you to Laura and Chris Amico for another phenomenal year of reporting.
This year’s reduction of homicides is welcomed news. While the milestone of fewer than 100 homicides is commendable - - each violent death serves as reminder of just how precious life is.
Healing takes a long time - - the pain never really goes away - - it only changes. Members of my staff have lost family members to homicide - - and I am in regular contact with parents and family members whose memories of their loved ones are particularly resonant during the holiday season.
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As 2012 drew to a close, the nation was shocked and saddened by the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. Second only to Virginia Tech in lives lost in a moment of school violence, the losses of Sandy Hook Elementary seemed, for many of us, too much to bear.
In D.C. we know that one family’s loss is a community’s loss. For too long we’ve come together, again and again, to grieve our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. This is perhaps why the Sandy Hook shooting is so difficult to understand. It’s impossible to imagine so much tragedy at once.
This is an historic year in D.C. For the first time since 1963, fewer than 100 people have been killed in our city. While we continue to mourn those who have been killed, we must celebrate and reflect on the lives not lost. On the violence avoided.
In an interview with Homicide Watch D.C., Police Chief Cathy Lanier spoke about the decline.
“When I think about the number from where I started from in 1990 when we had 479, it seems dramatic,” she said. “I’ve said since ‘07 our tipping point is less than 100 and we can do it. But I still think about 82 families who have lost somebody. So it’s certainly not, it’s not victory. But it feels like a good milestone for us. I think we passed the tipping point.”
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We are about to publish our annual Year in Review package, a collection of investigations, feature stories, data visualizations and guest columns looking back on homicide in D.C. in 2012. It is not an exaggeration to say that we wouldn’t be publishing today without you, our readers and supporters.
Over the summer, this site almost closed when our founding editor, Laura Amico, accepted a fellowship at Harvard University. The community rallied, and we raised enough money to keep the site alive. We hired three interns—Jonah Newman, Penny Ray and Sam Pearson—who have been running the site since September.
So, as we head into 2013, we’d like to thank everyone who pitched in and who spread the word. We look forward to the year ahead, as we continue to mark every death, remember every victim and follow every case.
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WJLA reports that a man killed early Saturday morning in Capitol Hill had just moved into the neighborhood that day.
Jason Anthony Emma was found slumped against the steering wheel of his car, about two blocks from his new home, at about 2:15 Monday morning. Neighbors said they didn’t hear gunshots, but a rapid succesion of noises, WJLA reports.
Reports WJLA:
“I didn’t think at the time that it was gunfire. It was just oddly loud; it was a series of noises closely spaced, so it was probably a rapid fire machine gun,” resident Chris Pala said.
Police are looking for at least two armed suspects—preliminary investigations show the motive may be robbery.
The Washington Post reports that police are looking for “two men between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall — one with a heavy build and wearing a white T-shirt with dark sleeves.”
An overnight shooting killed a man near Capitol Hill, in the 1200 block of C Street Northeast, MPD Commander Daniel Hickson said on a neighborhood email list.
Police have identified the man as 28-year-old Jason Anthony Emma of Northeast Washington, D.C.
WJLA reports Emma was shot in the abdomen, “lying next to his car—the engine was still running and the headlights were still on.” Other reports say he was inside the vehicle. Read more
A double shooting which killed Raymond Harris early Saturday morning has taken the life of the second man who was shot, MPD said Sunday afternoon.
That second victim is identified 69-year-old Nathaniel Beasley, Jr of Southeast DC. Police said he was pronounced dead Sunday morning.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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In brief:
Jeffrey Ray Tyson, 20, was killed in a shooting in Southeast DC Sunday night.
Anthony Garland Rice, 58, was found unconscious near Northeast DC elementary school Monday morning. He appeared to have been shot and died of his injuries.
Jermile Damon Davis, 24, was shot and killed near Catholic University Thursday night. Police said they initially responded to the address for a report of a burglary in progress.
Raymond Harris, 44, was killed in a drive-by double shooting in Northeast DC early Saturday morning. The second victim was reported to be in critical condition.
Judge Robert Morin found probable cause to hold Steven Williams Monday. Williams is suspected in the shooting death of June Grace Lim.
Theodore Spencer was sentenced today to 36 years in prison for his roll in the brutal death of Glenn Scarborough. Terrell Wilson and Phillip Swan were sentenced to 34 and 30 years, respectively, for their involvement.
After 35 hours of testimony, Judge Russell Canan found Albrecht Muth mentally competent and gave him the green light for representing himself at trial, where he is suspected of killing his wife, Viola Drath.
Sharrod Peppers was sentenced to nine years in prison for the 2010 slaying of Rodney Bean. Peppers pled guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of carrying a pistol without a license in connection with the case in October.
Reginald Vance was sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in the 2010 shooting death of Keith Banks. Vance pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact in April. Vance, who has been in custody since his arrest in Dec. 2010, was given credit for time served and at the sentencing Judge Ronna Beck signed an order for his release.
