The April Report -- 34 murdered 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 are higher than my own. By the NYPD 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 was 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.

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 are higher than my own. By the NYPD 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 was 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.