Record Number of Homicides As Charlotte Reaches 123 Murders in 2020
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A grim and troubling end to 2020.
123 people have lost their lives to violence in Charlotte this year, the most on record.
Chief Jennings is calling the number of homicides “devastating and unfortunate.”
The record comes as police investigate three homicides in less than 17 hours.
“It just seems to be an every day thing. And it’s very, very, very devastating,” says Genecia Hairston, with Mothers of Murdered Offspring.
The group held a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night for 30-year-old Cinquay Farrer, who was killed in North Charlotte on December 22nd.
“There’s too much time on a lot of people’s hands, you have children that are not in school, young adults that are not in school,” Hairston says.
Police adjusted the previous record high of 129 homicides in 1993 down to 122 — making 2020 the deadliest on record in Charlotte.
“I’m a little flabbergasted, I mean the number of homicides that we’ve seen this year are staggering,” says CMPD Major Cecil Brisbon.
The latest murder happened on Tuesday afternoon at the Magnolia Terrace Apartments in Northeast Charlotte.
A woman was shot and killed during an argument.
“These things don’t help our community at all. It’s very regrettable and there are people that are losing loved ones, and we’re trying to provide them answers for why their loved ones are gone,” Brisbon says.
Two deadly stabbings happened in about an hour on Monday night.
The first happened just before 10:00 on Newell-Hickory Grove Road in Northeast Charlotte.
And the other, just before 11:00 on Ledson Court in Northwest Charlotte.
Back at Tuesday night’s vigil, there’s hope things can turn around.
“It’s just, it’s not normal. This is not normal for Charlotte,” Hairston says.
Another difficult case happened Christmas week, when two teenagers were shot and killed on Christmas Eve in East Charlotte.
Local leaders are still working on a “violence interrupters” program they hope can curb the numbers by involving community members.
This marks two straight years with more than 100 homicides.
