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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- January 26, 2022
Court
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Daily Stories
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Featured
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Homicides
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Shooting
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stabbing
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Suspects
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Victims
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The year 2021 saw more homicides than any year since 2003. While the number rose, the statistics behind them largely stayed the same.
There were 227 homicides in 2021, which is approximately 34 homicides per 100,000 people. While this number is larger than the previous year, many of the statistics surrounding it remained the same.
Arrests
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)'s clearance rate is slightly lower than any year since 2015. This rate is defined by any homicide where an arrest was made and was just barely over 42% in 2021. While the number seems lower than average, it is only slightly lower than previous years.
Causes
The cause of homicides remained similar to previous years, but one reasoning saw an increase in stabbings. Approximately 13 percent of homicides were due to fatal stabbings in 2021, a number that had not yet been seen since 2018. The youngest victim was 15-year-old Kemon Payne, who was killed on Aug. 18, 2021.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department press release, at about 3:11 p.m. on Aug. 18, members of a School Security Division were assisting with Safe Passage, a program meant to promote safe transportation for students in DC, when they were informed of an altercation taking place on the 1400 block of Brentwood Parkway, NE.
A 15-year-old was arrested that same day and charged with second-degree murder while armed.
Other causes including fatal shootings and trauma did not see a significant change.
Age
The average age of homicide victims in the last six years has been 32. The outliers have also stayed the same with homicides affecting age groups across the board.
Six-year-old Nyiah Courtney was shot and killed on July 17, 2021. Her homicide was ruled a mass shooting because at least three others, including her father, were hit by gunfire.
Marktwan Hargraves was arrested in relation to the mass shooting and charged with second-degree murder while armed. Judge Marisa Demeo found substantial probable cause that if Hargraves goes to trial, he would be found guilty of the murder.
Courtney is not the only child to be murdered in DC. At least 102 people who were18 years old or younger were murdered since 2015, including 18 youth homicides in 2021- or 7.93 percent of the total homicides.
The interactive map below shows homicides in 2021.