80 Homicides Happened in First 5 Months of 2021, Data Shows

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There were 80 homicides in DC from the beginning of this year through the end of May, according to D.C. Witness data.

As of June 1, 2020, a year with more homicides than any of the four years before it, there were 73.

Eighty percent of the 2021 victims were shot. Twelve-and-a-half percent were stabbed.

Some homicide victims have more than one cause of death. Two victims died in vehicle-related homicides, three died of trauma, two died from assaults and one was strangled.

The cause of death of the youngest victim, two-month-old Kyon Jones, remains unknown. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out a missing persons alert for the infant on May 7. At around 1:10 p.m. that day, officers responded to the 1500 block of Benning Road, NE, for a welfare check, according to a press release. His mother, 37-year-old Ladonia Boggs, reportedly did not know where her son was. The child has yet to be found.

On May 14, Boggs was arrested for felony murder. However, on the day of her initial hearing, she ultimately ended up only being charged with tampering with evidence.

Boggs is currently released on her promise to return to court for her next hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 19.

The oldest victim was 66-year-old Mohammed Anwar, who was killed on March 23 on the 1200 block of Van Street, SE, after two girls, ages 13 and 15 at the time, were quickly arrested for felony murder.

On June 4, DC Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz sentenced the 15-year-old girl to the maximum sentence allowed for felony murder in juvenile cases. She will be held under the supervision of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) until she is 21.

The 13-year-old girl is expected to be sentenced in July for second-degree murder.

The average age of the victims was 31.

Anwar and Jones are among 70 of the male victims. Ten victims were female.

April had 20 homicides – more than any other month in 2021, but not by much. January had 18 homicides, February and May had 15 and March had 12.

The number of homicides decreased about 16.6 percent from January to February, decreased 20 percent from February to March, increased about 66.6. percent from March to April and decreased 25 percent from April to May.

Congress Heights had 14 homicides – more than any other neighborhood. Randle Heights and Old City each had eight.

Andrea Keckley wrote this article.

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