The Murder Book 2008

The May Report -- 43 dead in 5th month of 2008...

Forty-three people were murdered in NYC in May 2008, bringing the total number of murders in the city this year to at least 187. The NYPD's official murder stats are slightly higher than my own. By the NYPD count, there were at least 190 murders so far in 2008.

(As always, my statistics are unofficial. These are the murders I calculated by reading the city's newspaper every day. It's possible some murders are added or dropped from the official police stats. According to official NYPD stats, the number of murders in the city between January 1 and May 25th totals 190. The city's officials number compares unfavorably with last year when there were only 174 murders in the same period, meaning -- according to the NYPD -- the murder rate this year is up more than 10% through May 25th.)

As is the case month after month, the vast majority of those killed were black men and the preferred method of killing was with a gun. Nearly half -- 20 of the 43 people -- killed in May were black, and 18 of the 43 murder victims this month were shot. This has become a clearly defined pattern. At least 91 of 187 murder victims in 2008 were black and that is a conservative figure since I don't know the race of every victim. 

Blacks make up slightly more than one-quarter of the city's overall population, yet they are getting murdered at a rate than is 100 percent higher.  

There was a cluster of teenage murder victims in the third week in May when four young people were killed in quick succession: Maurice McIver, 15, was shot in the groin in an apparent case of mistaken identity; Brandan Bethea, 15, was shot and killed by a stray bullet while she was dancing outside the Redfern Houses in Queens; Tyrese Johnson, 16, was also shot, not far from Beathea; and Martin Jackson, 18, was shot once in the head in the Bronx.

Among the others who were killed were two hard-working immigrants who ran small storefront businesses: Elgudzha Koyenishvili, a 67-year-old Russian national, who ran a down at the heels liquor store in Staten Island; and Kyung-Sook Woo, a 63-year-old Asian woman who ran a thriving dry cleaning business in the Windsor Terrace section of Brooklyn. Both were killed during robberies.

Here's how the monthly statistics break down:

RACE: 20 of the departed were black, 7 were Latino or Latina, 5 were white, and 2 were Asian, and the rest were of unknown ethnicity.

METHOD OF DEATH: 18 of the departed were shot, 11 were stabbed, 4 were killed by cars, 3 were beaten, 1 was killed by a pain patch, and the rest died of unknown causes pending autopsies.

AGE: 12 of the departed were in their 20s, 7 were in their 40s, 6 were in their 30s, 5 were teenagers, 4 were in their 60s, 3 were younger than 13, 1 woman was 85 years old. 

 

The April Report -- 34 murders in 4th month of 2008...

Thirty-four people were murdered in NYC in April 2008, bringing the total number of murders in the city this year to at least 144. For the first time this year, the NYPD's official murder stats count more murders than I do. By their count, there were at least 154 murders so far in 2008.

(As always, my statistics are unofficial. These are the murders I calculated by reading the city's newspaper every day. It's possible some murders are added or dropped from the official police stats. According to official NYPD stats, the number of murders in the city between January 1 and April 27th totals 154 -- ten more than I've counted which means that either I've missed some or they were not reported in the city's newspapers. I've been on the West Coast for much of the month so that could account for the discrepancy. The city's officials number compares unfavorably with last year when there were only 129 murders in the same period, meaning -- according to the NYPD -- the murder rate this year is up nearly 20% through April 27.)

As is the case month after month , the vast majority of those killed were black men and the preferred method of killing was with a gun. Twenty of the 34 people killed in April were black, and 17 of the 34 murder victims this month were shot. This has become a clearly defined pattern. At least 71 of 144 murder victims in 2008 were black and that is a conservative figure since I don't know the race of every victim. 

The murders that got the most ink this month were:

-- Chelsea Frazier, the 18-year-old white mother from Southbridge, Massachusetts, who was shot to death in the Bronx in a plot allegedly hatched by her paramour. The murder was immediately suspicious to anyone who knows the Bronx. No one from Massachusetts "happens" to get lost in that part of the Bronx. It's silly if you know the area and the two alleged killers obviously did not.

-- Minghui Yu, the 24-year-old Asian male and Columbia graduate student who was killed when he was struck by a car after Yu ran into traffic in upper Manhattan because, police said, he'd just been attacked by a 14-year-old boy.

-- Jessica Tush, the 19-year-old white female from Staten Island who was allegedly strangled to death and buried in a shallow grave in New Jersey by her former boyfriend Thomas Paolino. The story got a lot of play but is not counted in this month's stats because police believe it's likely Tush was killed in New Jersey.

-- Kenneth Duncan, the 40-year-old black city correction officer who was shot in the face and killed as he and a friend were tinkering with Duncan's beloved motorcycle at his Brooklyn home. The killer is still at large.

Four of those who died this month were women. 

Here's how the monthly statistics break down:

RACE: 20 of the departed were black, 9 were Latino or Latina, 3 were white, and 2 were Asian, and 1 was of unknown ethnicity. 

METHOD OF DEATH: 17 of the departed were shot, 10 were stabbed, 2 were killed by cars, and and the rest died of unknown causes pending autopsies.

AGE: 11 of the departed were in their 30s, 10 were in their 20s, 4 were in their 40s, 3 were teenagers, 1 was in his 70s, and 1 was an 11 week-old boy, the youngest murder victim of 2088.

April 1st -- 43 murders in March, deadliest month of '08...

Forty-three people were murdered in NYC in March 2008, bringing the total number of murders in the city this year to 110.

(As always, these are unofficial statistics. These are the murders I calculated by reading the city's newspaper every day. It's possible some murders are added or dropped from the official police stats. According to official NYPD stats, the number of murders in the city between January 1 and March 23d totals 99. That compares unfavorably with last year when there were only 82 murders in the same period, meaning -- according to the NYPD -- the murder rate this year is up 20.7% through March 23d.)

What stands out in regard to the March murders is....nothing. There was a strange numbness to the killings. Not a single murder gained any traction with the city's three newspapers which were obsessed with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's bedroom activities and the massive crane collapse in midtown. It didn't seem to matter if a mother of three was gunned down accidentally or a Harlem business owner was found dead in his burning car out near Jamaica Bay. No murder resonated in the newspapers.

What did stand out is the phrase "black male shot." Thirty black males were killed in the month of March, and 26 of them were shot. Often, they were killed in Brooklyn which had a horrendous month. Twenty-three of the 42 murders occurred in Brooklyn last month.

Five of those who died were women. 

Here's how the monthly statistics break down:

RACE: 30 of the departed were black, 8 were Latino or Latina, 2 were Asian, 1 was white, and 1 was of unknown ethnicity.

BY BOROUGH: 23 of the departed were killed in Brooklyn, 8 in the Bronx, 8 in Queens, 2 in Manhattan, and 2 in Staten Island.

METHOD OF DEATH: 27 of the departed were shot, 7 were stabbed, 5 were beaten and/or strangled, and the rest died of unknown causes pending autopsies.

AGE: 19 of the departed were in their 20s, 11 were in their 30s, 4 were teenagers, 2 were in their 40s, and 2 were in their 50s. There was also a 2-month-old baby beaten or shaken to death.

** The two final murder victims who died on March 31st were:

-- Michael Wilmont, 27 of Elmont, L.I., who was gunned down last night outside 553 E. 108 Street in the Carnarsie section of Brooklyn. The Daily News carried a brief quoting police sources as saying Wilmont was feuding with some people who ambushed him outside the Breukelen Houses where Wilmont was visiting a girlfriend. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he died. No arrests.

-- An unidentified 37-year-old black male shot numerous times late Monday night in front of 190-46 112 Avenue in the Jamaica section of Queens. He was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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Police in Miami announced they have arrested James Gonzalez, a homeless drifter who stabbed his ex-girlfriend Tina Negron to death inside a lower east side Key Food store on February 29th. The arrest comes two days after the story appeared on "America's Most Wanted." Gonzalez was recognized by a worker in a Miami shelter who called police, according to a story in the Daily News.

The February Report -- 31 murders in second month of 2008...

Thirty-one people were murdered in New York City in February 2008, bringing the total number of murders in the city this year to 67.

(As always, these are unofficial statistics. These are the murders I calculated by reading the city's newspaper every day. It's possible some murders are added or dropped from the official police stats. According to official NYPD stats, the number of murders in the city between January 1 and February 24th totals 61. That compares unfavorably with last year when there were only 52 murders in the same period, meaning -- according to the NYPD -- the murder rate this year is up 17.3% through February 24th.)

The murder that galvanized the city's attention in February was the slashing death of Upper East Side therapist Dr. Kathryn Faughey, a white 56-year-old female, murdered by mental patient David Tarloff. The murder was Page One news for more than a week whereas most of the other murders for the month -- which involved black and Latino men shot and stabbed to death in the city's outlying boroughs -- barely registered in the city's newspapers. Many of those murders got no more than a brief mention.

There were a few other murders that generated some attention: the strangulation of 14-year-old Anna Matias allegedly at the hands of her mentally ill father; the stabbing of transgendered Talib Stewart allegedly by a "friend;" the shooting of ex-cop and suspected wife abuser Ray Sheehan by his wife; the shooting of 17-year-old Tim Kim by a disgruntled customer in a Bronx shoe store; and the stabbing death of Tina Negron in a Key Food store by an ex-boyfriend who initially escaped. Interestingly, all of these people were killed by someone known to them.

Of the seven women murdered in February, four knew their attackers and three did not.

Here's how the monthly statistics break down:

RACE: 9 of the victims were black, 8 were Hispanic, 5 were white, and 1 was Asian. (I only categorized those I was certain of.)

BY BOROUGH: 12 murders occurred in the Bronx, 7 in Queens, 6 in Manhattan, 6 in Brooklyn, and 0 in Staten Island.

METHOD OF DEATH: 15 were shot, 8 were stabbed, 3 were beaten, 3 were killed by vehicles, and 1 was strangled. (The others were unknown pending an autopsy)

AGE: 11 of the departed were in their 20s (for the second month in a row the most dangerous age group), 6 were in their 40s, 3 were in their 30s, 3 were in their 50s, 3 were teenagers, 1 male was in his 70s, and an 84 year-old woman was killed by a hit & run driver.

It's clear from the year thus far that the most likely murder victims are black or Latino males who are in their 20s and living in the Bronx or Queens. The most likely method of death by far is at the end of a gun.