As its new mayor was sworn in Monday, the City of Memphis recorded its first homicide.
Just after noon on Monday, a man was shot and killed at a Whitehaven gas station, according to reports. Two others were injured in the shooting, and a suspect has not yet been identified.
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The Tennessee Board of Parole announced Tuesday that it will honor homicide victims with a “Season to Remember” event that is scheduled for December 7.
“For more than two decades, state and local public safety officials, along with families of homicide victims, have gathered to honor and remember victims and survivors of homicide during the holiday season,” said a press release. “This year will mark the state’s 21st annual ‘Tennessee Season to Remember’, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, December 7 at First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville.”
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If Tyre Nichols was targeted by members of a Memphis Police Department violent crime unit because of his alleged involvement with one of the officers’ ex-wives, there’s nothing on the subject included in a new federal indictment against the five former law enforcement officials.
A federal grand jury in Memphis on Tuesday returned a four-count indictment against Emmitt Martin III, 31; Tadarrius Bean, 24; Demetrius Haley, 30; Desmond Mills, Jr., 33; and Justin Smith, 28.
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Philadelphia’s Democratic voters nominated Cherelle Parker in Tuesday’s mayoral primary election.
The former state representative and former ninth-district city councilwoman will face a downhill general-election battle against David Oh (R-At-Large) whose bid for the Republican nod was uncontested.
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The biggest parties in U.S. politics will be held in two of the more dangerous cities in America.
A former conservative sheriff who has been an equal-opportunity critic of Democrats and Republicans wants to know what convention organizers are thinking.
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Chicago recorded 697 total homicides in 2022, far more than any other city in the United States, but New Orleans had the highest murder rate per capita, according to a new report from a nonprofit research group.
Chicago had more total homicides in 2022 than Philadelphia (516), New York City (438), Houston (435) and Los Angeles (382), which rounded out the top five, according to a report from Wirepoints, an Illinois-based research and news organization that surveyed 2022 crime data from 75 of the largest U.S. cities.
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Philadelphia has again failed to stop murders in the city, as it repeats a homicide toll that surpasses 500 deaths. While murders are down compared to a year ago, the level of violence dwarfs recent years, when as few as 277 murders happened in 2016.
As of December 28, 514 people have been victims of homicide in Philadelphia. That number is down 7% from 2021, when a record 562 people died, but higher than the 499 deaths in 2020 and 356 in 2019.
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U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) is spearheading an effort in Congress to end the “year-and-a-day” rule for federal homicide prosecutions.
Tiffany’s “Justice for Murder Victims Act” would allow murder charges to apply if an attacker committed an assault that resulted in the victim’s death more than a year and a day after the incident. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) is cosponsoring the legislation, while Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) have introduced a companion bill in their chamber.
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As the holiday weekend nears, Pennsylvania state senators are viewing initial written arguments from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) contesting his impeachment.
The then-GOP-controlled state House of Representatives voted last month 107-85 to try the radical prosecutor in the Senate to consider his removal from office. Senate leaders then issued a writ of summons to Krasner outlining seven counts against him. Articles of impeachment concern alleged “dereliction of duty and refusal to enforce the law,” obstruction of a legislative investigation against him, improper conduct in two criminal trials, failure to admit conflict of interest, failure to heed victims’ rights and refusal to prosecute certain crimes.
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Pennsylvania’s House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order heard from mothers of recent Philadelphia murder victims on Thursday morning to gather perspective on District Attorney Larry Krasner’s (D) job performance.
In a video-recorded interview, Jennifer Meleski, the mother of 24-year-old Chuckie Maude who was murdered in the city’s Kensington neighborhood in 2021, shared her frustration with the city for creating an atmosphere in which gun violence abounds. She blamed Krasner for hamstringing police by pressing charges against officers who “stop and frisk” people on suspicion they are illegally carrying weapons.
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Police searched the home of a Clark County, Nev. administrator early on Wednesday, allegedly in connection with the recent slaying of a Las Vegas newspaper reporter who had spent considerable time reporting on the administrator’s political career.
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During a visit to the Whitehall Police Department this week, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) indicated he will expand funding for the Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program from $58 million to $100 million, citing a nationwide spike in violence.
According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2011 and 2020 Uniform Crime Reports, homicides in the Buckeye State rose sharply in the decade between those years. Five hundred murders occurred in Ohio in 2011 and 820 took place in 2020. Regional figures also show violence worsening, with one poll of Franklin County police chiefs showing that aggravated assault increased by 36 percent in that jurisdiction between 2020 and 2021.
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Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday circulated a memorandum seeking cosponsors for articles of impeachment for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D).
Reps. Josh Kail (R-Monaca), Torren Ecker (R-Abbottstown) and Tim O’Neal (R-Washington) wrote in their message to House colleagues that impeachment is a severe option that they would only initiate in the face of a prosecutor’s clear “dereliction of duty.” They charged Krasner with a “willful refusal to enforce Pennsylvania’s criminal laws” in Philadelphia.
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A man has been indicted and charged in a cold case homicide that occurred in McMinn County more than 25 years ago, following an ongoing investigation and the re-testing of evidence according to a press release by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
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In the high-profile trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of intentional homicide after killing two and wounding one during an August 25, 2020 riot in Kenosha, Judge Bruce Schroeder began Monday by dismissing a weapons charge against the 18-year-old defendant.
Count six of the complaint, possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor, was dropped before closing arguments began. That was a lesser charge in the complaint – a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in prison.
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Law-enforcement professionals and judges testified at a Georgia Senate hearing Wednesday largely to consider the impact of pretrial release on violent crime in Atlanta and elsewhere, with particular scrutiny being placed on “signature bonds.”
Jeff Hamling, a representative of the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen (GAPB), gave the Senate Public Safety Committee a rundown of statistics pertaining to defendants who have been let out of jail under these arrangements. Signature bonds permit prosecutors and judges to release alleged offenders per a signed agreement that the defendants will report promptly for trial. Technically, these bonds have dollar amounts but they do not require defendants to deposit any cash or collateral.
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St. Paul police officers “are being pushed to the brink” as they grapple with high turnover and record crime rates, the chief of police told a St. Paul City Council committee Wednesday.
Police Chief Todd Axtell’s budget presentation was met with harsh criticism from some council members who were “astounded” by his request for a $3.1 million increase over what the mayor has proposed for the department’s 2022 budget.
Council Member Mitra Jalali scolded the chief for “doing 30 minutes of a speech instead of an actual department presentation.”
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On Thursday, a Dickson County, Tennessee jury sentenced Steven Wiggins to death for murdering Sergeant Daniel Baker.
Earlier that day, District Attorney General Ray Crouch and defense lawyer Luke Evans presented their closing arguments to jurors, who were tasked with deciding between the death penalty and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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During sentencing for Dickson County, Tennessee murderer Steven Wiggins this week, prosecutors played a recording wherein Wiggins spoke to his 10-year-old son on the phone from prison and asked the child to “kick [the child’s pregnant mother] in the stomach.”
The prisoner’s command of his son came in response to the child telling Wiggins about the mother’s pregnancy.
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Judge David D. Wolfe of Tennessee’s 23rd Judicial District, presiding over sentencing of convicted murderer Steven Wiggins, advised witnesses on Tuesday that they may not testify to their own philosophical opinion against the use of the death penalty in all cases.
The judge thus struck a portion of the testimony Peter Schaffer gave Monday during sentencing proceedings to determine what punishment Wiggins will receive for the shooting death of Dickson County Sergeant Daniel Baker: life imprisonment or death.
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When a Dickson County, Tennessee jury reconvened Monday on sentencing Steven Wiggins for killing Sergeant Daniel Baker, counsel for the the defendant argued Wiggins suffered mitigating mental-health issues.
Defense attorney David Hopkins emphasized to jurors that their determination of Wiggins’s guilt last week was not being challenged and that the task at hand is deciding whether life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty is deserved.
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A Dickson County, Tennessee jury Thursday found Steven Wiggins guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and nine other charges related to the 2018 shooting death of Sergeant Daniel Baker.
“Some people obviously had some tears, but I had some sort of sense of relief,” Baker’s widow Lisa told reporters after the verdict was announced.
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Approaching three days into the trial of Steven Wiggins for the 2018 shooting death of Dickson County, Tennessee Sergeant Daniel Baker, jurors were shown body camera footage of the sheriff deputy’s deadly encounter with the defendant.
Wiggins is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and other counts associated with Baker’s death.
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Trial officially commenced in Charlotte, Tennessee, Monday for Steven Wiggins who stands accused in the May 2018 shooting death of Dickson County Sergeant Daniel Baker.
Wiggins has pleaded not guilty to all charges, foremost among them premeditated first-degree murder.
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In House floor remarks on Thursday, Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) called out President Joe Biden for insisting in a CNN Town Hall with host Don Lemon a week ago that “crime is down” even as murder rates rise.
The current rise in violent crime has been broadly acknowledged by an array of journalistic and academic observers, and even by liberal outlets like the Atlantic Monthly.
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A new study found that Minneapolis experienced the fifth-highest increase in homicides in the nation between 2019 to 2021.
The overall rankings were based on both a city’s current homicide rate and the change in its number of homicides across the last two years. Minneapolis landed in the 11th position overall, behind cities like New Orleans, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Detroit, according to the WalletHub survey.
From the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021, the city of lakes saw the fifth-highest increase in per capita homicides in the nation. In this time, Minneapolis endured the death of George Floyd, unprecedented levels of rioting, mass unemployment caused by COVID-19 lockdowns, and a political assault on its police department.
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A man described as a “lone shooter” was arrested in Chamblee Thursday and charged with the murder of a Kennessaw golf pro, along with two others.
“Bryan Anthony Rhoden of Atlanta was taken into custody in DeKalb County, more than 25 miles from Pinetree Country Club where golf pro Gene Siller, 46, was shot dead Saturday afternoon, according to Cobb officials,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said. “Rhoden is charged with three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping, Cobb police Chief Tim Cox said during a hastily arranged news conference Thursday evening.”
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The true cost of the riots after the death of George Floyd in police custody is starting to pile up on taxpayers.
This fallout could leave the Minneapolis Police Department short-staffed.
Minneapolis city leaders have begun signing large workers’ compensation packages for dozens of departing police officers, Fox 9 reports.
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Michigan police forces appear to be faring better than those in Minnesota’s largest metro areas after a year troubled by controversial and tragic police encounters ending in death.
In many metropolitan cities across the United States, violent crime increased in 2020. In Detroit, there were 327 murders, up 19% from 2019, and 1,173 non-fatal shootings, up 53%, Michigan Public Radio reported.
Michigan State Police (MSP) spokeswoman Shanon Banner said the state police tracks enlistment numbers by fiscal year, but it’s difficult to conclude whether retirements are “up” or “down” from year to year because retirements are largely based on when recruits become eligible for retirement.
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The Washington D.C. Medical Examiner’s office has ruled Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt’s death as a homicide, American Greatness learned on Wednesday. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and small business owner, was shot dead inside the U.S. Capitol by a law enforcement officer on January 6.
In a press release to American Greatness, D.C. Chief Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz, M.D., revealed the cause and manner of death of four individuals who died during or after the Capitol riot.
Diaz determined that Babbitt, 35, died as a result of a gunshot wound to her left anterior shoulder, and called the manner of her death a “homicide.”
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San Francisco, California, has seen increases in burglary and homicide for the first nine months of 2020 amid nationwide unrest compared to 2019, according to police data.
The city, which boasts nearly double the U.S. household median income, has seen a nearly 42% increase in burglary, around a 33% increase in homicide and 31% uptick in vehicle thefts, statistical comparisons to 2019 from the San Francisco Police Department show.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced in a press release Friday the formation of a new cold case unit.
Yost said in the release “we can make a difference, even when years have passed since a murder or sexual assault,” and told citizens to “consider how DNA testing advances have unmasked, time and time again, violent criminals who got away with living among us for too long.”
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A Virginia inmate who was released from jail because of the Coronavirus pandemic is back in police custody for allegedly murdering his accuser.
Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi, a 33-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly raping his ex-girlfriend Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez in October 2019 and held without bond, was arrested Wednesday morning for shooting and killing Gonzalez on July 29.
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Homicides in 50 of America’s largest cities rose by 24%, a new analysis found.
In total, 36 of 50 of America’s largest cities examined saw a double-digit rise in homicide rates, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Austin and Chicago’s homicide rates have increased more than 50% in comparison to last year’s rates, according to the Journal.
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St. Paul saw its first homicide of 2020 just two hours into the new year, the city’s police department announced Wednesday morning.
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Following the disturbing trend in heavily urban areas like St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago, the murder rate in Nashville has spiked an alarming 63 percent over 2016. WKRN’s Joseph Pleasant reports, “In a span of 36 hours, there have been four homicides in Davidson County.” He continues: Early Thursday morning, a man was shot to death in West Nashville. Another man was stabbed on Murfreesboro Pike in South Nashville. Later Thursday afternoon, Ahmad Osborne was shot and killed on Glastonbury Road in South Nashville. Overnight in Hermitage, Suzanne Daughtery died and police believe her husband killed her. And: These deaths bring the total number of homicides so far in 2017 to 57. Last year at this time, there were 35. Year to year, homicides are up 63 percent. East Nashville has also seen a dramatic rise in homicides. 13 people have been killed in the East Precinct, compared to three this time last year. The rapid rise in homicides has been an ongoing concern of law enforcement professionals in recent years. The New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blog reported in January spikes in murder rates in cities across the country, noting, “Murder almost certainly increased substantially in the U.S. in 2016, one year…
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