No Black Lives Matter protests have been planned. We’re assuming it’s because no cops were involved in their deaths. When will members of these communities start taking a stand against the murders of their family, friends and neighbors at the hands of the criminals living in their communities?
With just four more days left in 2015, Detroit was close to mirroring last year’s homicide total, the lowest since 1967, although the good news was dimmed by the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl late Sunday, along with the Christmas Eve slaying of a noted musician.
As of Sunday, there were at least 292 homicides in Detroit, the same as during the same period in 2014, when the city saw the fewest homicides in 47 years.
A flurry of killings in late December drove the number up, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said.
“We were down by as many as 12 recently, but we hit a bad patch,” Craig said. “But we ended last year with the lowest number of homicides in 47 years, and it looks like we’ll end up about the same.”
Nonfatal shootings also were down by 12 as of Thursday, from 1,030 last year. Robberies dropped18 percent, with 695 fewer than in 2014. This year’s total: 3,063, vs. 3,758 during the same period last year.
“That’s good news, and a testament to our hard-working officers,” Craig said. “We’re trending in the right direction.”
Among the high-profile killings in 2015:
A 7-year-old girl is dead and her 8-year-old sister in critical condition Sunday after they were shot while playing with their Christmas presents Sunday night in their home on the city’s northwest side.
Sharonda Benson, the woman police named as a person of interest in the fatal shooting, turned herself in to the Detroit Police Department at 3 a.m. at the 6th precinct, said Sgt. Cassandra Lewis.
Lewis also said that a man police believe to be connected to the shooting was arrested. His name and age were not available.
Bullet holes in the front window of the home. The shooting happened in the 16800 block of Steel, near McNichols and the Lodge freeway. (Photo: Daniel Mears, Detroit News)
The neighborhood is a high-crime area. Steel Street has has 11 shootings so far this year, including two homicides, according to police crime data.
“This started over some family drama,” Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt said. “The guy has five kids from five different mothers; there was a family gathering, the new girlfriend confronted the old one, and said, ‘I’ll be back.’
“A few minutes later, shots were fired, and we’ve got a 7-year-old girl dead, and an 8-year-old in critical condition. These kids were playing with their Christmas gifts and some (expletive) fires into their house? I’m furious. Who would shoot into a house knowing there were kids in there? If they’re a parent themselves, what does that tell you?”
■Mitchelle Blair pleaded guilty to killing her two children, Stoni Blair, 13, and Stephen Berry, 9, and putting their bodies in a freezer, which she kept in her apartment.
■A 20-year-old man was killed at a block party, one of 10 people shot during the gathering. Despite there being hundreds of people at the scene, no one came forward to provide police with information, and the killing remains unsolved.
■Paul Monchick, 91, was fatally beaten inside his west side home in November, and his house was set on fire. Police arrested a neighbor, 17-year-old George Steward, who was charged with first-degree murder and is awaiting trial.
■Detroit firefighter David Madrigal was found inside his northwest side home on Dec. 21, dead of blunt force trauma to the head. No arrests have been made.
Via: Detroit News
