We’re launching a weekly homicide tracker for Wake, Durham and Orange counties. Here’s why.
Starting today and on successive Mondays, The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun will report homicides in this weekly roundup to report gun violence trends in the community.
An interactive map, a searchable database and links to our stories provide more details on each death and the status of the investigation.
We are reassessing how we report homicides and violent crime.
▪ We want to rely less, especially on initial stories, on official sources alone.
▪ We want to emphasize trends and tell more about those killed and those affected by loss and violence in their communities.
▪ We want to create time in our reporters’ schedules to go deeper in search of better stories.
To do this, we may forgo some types of stories we do now, when there is little information and sometimes not even a name.
The new homicide tracker, however, will include all violent deaths. With the map, you will be able to hover on a dot and learn the basic details. With the database, you will be able to search on incidents by name.
Know that as you do this, we are working to learn more about each case, about the victim and the ripples their death has in the community.
Please contact deputy metro editor Mark Schultz at mschultz@newsobserver.com to tell us what else you’d like us to try including in our coverage.
RALEIGH
Firearms were involved in 80% of homicides in 2023 in Raleigh.
Date: June 30
Victim: Shakeem Smith
Age: 26
Location: 7000 block of Longstreet Drive
Arrest: Christopher Scott, 27, charged with murder.
Story link:
Date: July 1-3
Victim: Dexter Rashad Ingram
Age: 28
Location: 5400 block of Picket Fence Lane
Arrest: None
Story link:
The Raleigh Police Department has a 70% homicide clearance rate as of July, year to date. There are three unsolved homicide cases.
Victim demographics:
- All victims this year have been male. Six were Black, two were white, and two were Hispanic.
- One victim was between 16 to 20 years old, four victims were between 26 to 30 years old, three victims were 31 to 35 years old, one victim was between 26 to 40 years old, and one victim was between 51 to 55 years old.
- There are 3 unsolved homicide cases as of July 2023. giving us a 70% clearance rate. However, our clearance rate for homicides is in the 90’s.
DURHAM
Date: July 4
Victim: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Location: 1500 block of Robinhood Road
Arrest: None
Story link:
Date: July 6
Victim: Khloe Fenell
Age: 5 (Destiny Sidberry, 15, shot and injured)
Location: North Guthrie Avenue near Taylor Street
Arrest: Brian Deshan Luster, 42, charged with 1st-degree murder, attempted 1st-degree murder, and possession of a firearm by a felon
Story links:
- “Man accused of killing 5-year-old girl, injuring teen in Durham due in court Friday”
- “’We have to do better.’ A call to end to violence a day after Durham girl is killed”
- “‘We love you Khloe’: Family, friends honor Durham’s youngest victim of gun violence”
Date: July 10
Victim: Johnny Lloyd Banks Jr. of Raleigh.
Age: 55
Location: 2200 block of NC 54
Arrest: None
Story link:
As of March 31, the Durham Police Department’s homicide clearance rate was 76.9%.
As of June 24, there had been 23 criminal homicides, including 20 fatal shootings, in Durham this year, according to the latest police statistics.
WAKE COUNTY
Date: June 28
Victim: Jerry Hicks
Age: 71
Location: Old Milburnie Road
Arrest: Unnamed juvenile, age 16, has been taken into custody, and a juvenile petition for murder has been filed.
Story link:
CARY
Date: July 2
Victim: Eric Matthew Laird
Age: 30
Location: 200 block of Hampton Lee Road, Cary
Arrest: William Jameson-Reece Atkins, 29, charged with murder.
Story link:
Database editor David Raynor contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 10, 2023 at 4:50 PM with the headline "We’re launching a weekly homicide tracker for Wake, Durham and Orange counties. Here’s why.."