Well, this is not good news:
Three homicides in the past 10 days. According to data from the Austin Police Department, the city’s murder rate is up nearly 80 percent from the same time last year.
The Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday believes this upward trend is something the department needs to tackle immediately.
“All you have to do is turn on the news. It seems like every night for the past several weeks its led off with shootings in north and east Austin,” said Casaday of the deadly shootings. “It reminds me of, back in the 80s and 90s, when we had a huge crime wave here in Austin.”
Of the 23 murders so far in 2016, five are unsolved.
Let’s take a look at the individual homicides this year (at least those up on the austintexas.gov website), starting with the most recent:
Unidentified female. “Suspects in this case have not yet been identified but are described as: One Black male, mid to late 20s, approximately 6’1” and 180-190 lbs. One Black female, late 20s to early 30s, approximately 5’9” and 220 – 240 lbs.”
Teqnika Moultrie, Black female (D.O.B. 11-23-85). Suspect: “Endicott McCray, a black male, 24 years of age.” (Since arrested in Atlanta.)
Felipe Leija, Hispanic male, D.O.B. 12-18-82. No suspects.
Felix Serrano, Hispanic male, (D.O.B. 11-20-50). “The only suspect description available is a Hispanic male who is thought to have been on foot around the noon hour.”
Alfred Matthews, black male, D.O.B. 2-24-88. “Murder charges are pending on Zachary Daniel Payne” who was apprehended, and appears to be a black male.
Sankirth Gundam, Asian male, (D.O.B. 5-11-92) “The suspect has been identified as 27-year-old Sai Sandeep Goud Kurremula, Asian male.” The apartment complex he was killed in is right next to the HEB I shop at.
Brandon D. Grant, Black male (D.O.B. 12/1/1985). “The suspect has not yet been identified.”
Joseph Anthony Lapaso, Hispanic male, D.O.B. 3-4-91. “APD charged Steven Johns with Murder and bond was set at $500,000.” Johns appears to be a black male.
Jose Angel Moreno, Hispanic male (D.O.B. 6-14-91). Though the austintexas.gov does not mention it, the suspect appears to be Bradford Gunn (a Hispanic male) and his girlfriend Brandi Nicole Harris (no description or mug shot available, mainly because the Statesman‘s booking photo gallery page is profoundly broken).
Gerald Leron Williams, Black male, D.O.B. 8-29-1992 (aka Ron Ron). “The assailant was described as a dark-skinned Black male, mid-20s, approximately 6 feet tall with medium build. The subject was wearing a black t-shirt and long denim shorts.”
Maria Ferrer-Mena, Hispanic Female (D.O.B. 10-26-1977). “The suspect is described as a Hispanic male with a light complexion, 5’8” to 6’0”, skinny build, and last seen wearing a grey hoodie sweatshirt and black basketball shorts.”
Russell Fulghum Jr., White male (D.O.B. 6-15-78), described as a homeless man. John Fredrick Mouton (a 22-year old black male) was charged with murder.
“Murder 8”: “You are not authorized to access this page.” Hmmmm. I’m guessing this was the murder of Haruka Weiser, the freshman dance major at UT, which was a national story. “Meechaiel Criner, 17, was charged with murder.” Criner is a black male.
Juan Jose Casimiro-Paxtor, Hispanic Male (D.O.B. 02-08-1990). “The suspect has been identified as Mario Garcia-Faustino, Hispanic male (26 years of age).”
Rigoberto Jose, Hispanic male (D.O.B. 02/08/1977). “The suspect has been identified as Osiel Benitez Benitez, Hispanic male, 42 years of age.” There were also two other people shot in the same incident.
Ishmael Mohammed, Other male (D.O.B. 12-02-1955). “Nikolas Ray Eller, White male, 38 years of age…has been charged with Aggravated Assault Felony 2.” (More info here.)
Jerry Don Summers, White male, (D.O.B. 06-30-61). “Suspect: Spencer Frank Carlton, White male, 52 years of age.” Also this: “The assault took place after Summers inappropriately groped Carlton’s wife while inside the Dogwood Bar located at 715 W. 6th St.” after which Carlton shoved Summers to the ground. Sounds like something that’s likely to get plead down to manslaughter, if that.
Carlos Swist, Black male, born 01/03/1973. “Arrested: Dedric Darnell Dixon, Black male, 44 years of age.”
David Loera, Hispanic Male (D.O.B. 07/31/1972). “The suspect was described as a White male, in his twenties, 5’11” – 6’0”, having a slightly muscular build, last seen wearing a camo hat, brown vest, dark long sleeved undershirt, and dark pants. The suspect vehicle was described as a newer model, dark, Chevrolet 4-door truck, possibly a 4×4.”
So what is the cause of Austin’s rising murder rate? Possibly just random statistical variation. Possibly the result of understaffing the police department. I considered the possibility that a “Black Lives Matter” reduction in policing and/or a refusal to deport illegal alien offenders might be factors, it’s hard to see that from the data. (And I haven’t delved into last year’s murder stats for comparison yet.)
The city’s overall demographics are 47.1% white, 7.0% black, 36.5% Hispanic, and 6.8% Other. As elsewhere in the nation, crime victims and perpetrators of same are disproportionately black, with Hispanics slightly over-represented as both victim and perpetrator, and whites somewhat underrepresented for same.