Month in Review: Half of April’s homicides closed with arrest

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Of the three homicides counted in April closed with an arrest, all of those cases were domestic in nature.

Police counted 6 homicides in April– including one in which a woman who went missing years ago was officially counted as a homicide this year.

Police arrested and charged Jose Rodriguez-Cruz for the death of his ex-girlfriend, Pamela Butler, who had gone missing years before. After 7 years, Butler’s family was able to get a death certificate, even though her body was never found.

Malcolm Cunningham was also charged with murder for the stabbing death of his grandfather, and David Blakeney Jr. was arrested and charged with his father, David Blakeney Sr.’s death.

April also saw the end to three cases: Eugene Sherman was sentenced to 20 years for the death of Matthew Shevlin. Lamar Young pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for the death of Bobby Ellis. Two years after his murder, Richard Dudley’s killer, Andrew Miller, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

Police are still searching for suspects for the murder of Christopher Heard, Darryl Knight and Michael Derricote.

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