CMPD has made an arrest in a majority of its homicide cases this year
The majority of homicide investigations in 2024 have led to an arrest, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said this week.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, police cleared 37 out of 53 homicide cases involving 61 victims. That means CMPD has made an arrest in about 70% of homicides from the first six months of the year.
According to the Council on Criminal Justice, which publishes research on crime trends and data, homicide clearance rates in the United States have been declining for nearly 60 years. The organization gets data from the FBI, which receives it each year from thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country.
How does Charlotte compare
In 1964, the data says, nearly 84% of homicides were cleared nationally. By 2022, the most recent year reported by the council, the clearance rate had dropped to 52%. This means that about half of homicide cases have resulted in an arrest, and fewer than half in a conviction, the council said.
Police in Durham cleared 72% of homicide cases in 2023, the News & Observer reported. The sheriff’s office in Jacksonville, Florida, reported 57% of 121 homicides were cleared in 2023. So far in 2024, about 46% of 35 homicides have been cleared in Jacksonville.
And in Washington, D.C., 52% of 274 homicides were cleared in 2023.
While most U.S. cities have seen a decline in killings, Charlotte has seen an increase. Homicides are up in 2024 compared to the first six months of 2023, which saw 45 killings. There have been more homicides in the first six months of this year in Charlotte than in the first six months of any year since at least 2015.
One person killed this year was 18-year-old Bellian Garcia, who was shot in northeast Charlotte on June 2. That case remains open.
In addition to the 61 homicides in the first half of 2024, CMPD has reported 15 homicides on its website in July, the most recent on July 29. At about 1:54 a.m., officers responded to the 800 block of Shadow Elm Drive in south Charlotte and found a man with stab wounds.
On Wednesday, CMPD identified Max Antunez, 27, as the victim.
A CMPD press release said detectives were speaking with someone and are not looking for other suspects. An arrest has not been announced.
