FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The year 2016 will come to a close with a record number of homicides having taken place in Allen County. The previous record of 45 set in 2013 was eclipsed Wednesday with a ruling from the Allen County Coroner’s Office that a man found shot to death in his car on South Lafayette Street was a homicide victim.
Prior to the previous record set in 2013, the next highest total was set in 1994 when 39 homicides recorded. Statistics mentioned by WANE-TV NewsChannel 15 here and posted below include all of Allen County, not just Fort Wayne. For 2016, only two homicides have occurred outside Fort Wayne: one in rural Allen County and one in New Haven.
Here is how the 46 homicides for 2016 break down:
Gender:
38 male
8 female
Race:
32 African-American
8 Caucasian
5 Hispanic
1 Asian
Cause:
41 Gunshot
1 Gunshot and Stabbing
2 Stabbing
1 Asphyxia due to strangulation and suffocation
1 Intrauterine demise
Age:
17 and under – 5
18 and older – 40
Unborn Child – 1
So far, 2016 has seen two triple homicides and one quadruple homicide. There have also been three police-action shootings. During the record-high year in 2013 the city saw four officer-involved shootings. The deadliest month was September with eleven homicides. August was the second-deadliest month with seven homicides.
14 cases have seen arrest and one case was the result of murder-suicide.
The city’s first homicide of the year occurred on Jan. 4 in the 6000 block of Bunt Drive. 26-year-old Jamarcus Moore was found dead inside a car. No arrests have been made.
The city’s next murders were a triple homicide on Feb. 24 when three men were gunned down inside a home at 808 E. Lewis Street. The killings sparked national attention after concerns the deaths could be a hate crime. However, police and family members of the victims said that was not true. Police arrested Artavius Richards and Darrell McDaniel in September in connection with the murders.
A police action shooting took place in the nighttime hours on Mar. 20 in the 300 block of East Rudisill Blvd. An FWPD officer and ISP trooper were called to a disturbance at a business. 12-year FWPD veteran Officer David Wilkins was pursuing a suspect who fired several shots. Wilkins fired back, hitting and killing 62-year-old Abraham Martinez. Martinez’ death was ruled a homicide, but Wilkins’ actions were deemed to be an action of self-defense by the Allen County Prosecutor.
Brandon L. Phillips, 28, Fort Wayne, was shot while inside a car on Oliver Street. Investigators said Phillips was in a shootout with someone in another car on Mar 17. He died about a week later and his death was the city’s sixth homicide.
On Mar. 26, 40-year-old Shawn Reinhart was found dead inside a car in an alley near South Anthony Boulevard and Lillie Street. Officers on patrol heard gunshots and found a vehicle with a shattered window. Reinhart’s death is still under investigation and no suspects have been arrested.
The city’s eighth homicide involved 16-year-old Xaivion Benson. He was found in a south-side alley in the early morning hours of Mar. 31.
The ninth homicide was ruled after 33-year-old Ileea Davis was found by a friend shot to death inside her home on Apr. 25. Davis’ friend had not heard from her for several hours and visited her home on Lillie Street. Police have interviewed family, friends and neighbors, but so far, no arrests have been made.
Jacqueline Vanduyn is the city’s only homicide victim, so far, in 2016 that didn’t die from gunshot wounds. She was found dead in a south side apartment on Apr. 25. The coroner’s report indicated Vanduyn died from asphyxia due to strangulation. 46-year-old Scott Jordan was sentenced to 81 years in prison for her death in Nov. 8.
A family member reported the death of 33-year-old Denyran Calvinto police on the morning of May 8. The Allen County Coroner said Denyran was shot to death. He was found inside a home in the 3700 block of Maywood Avenue. His death was the tenth in the city by homicide.
A quiet neighborhood on the city’s northeast side was the scene of the eleventh homicide. Four people were inside a car parked along the street on Brickshire Parkway when a man started shooting from inside. Two people were struck, but 17-year-old Dontay White died at a hospital. A woman who was also the car was not harmed. FWPD said the motive for the shooting appeared to be robbery. No arrests have been made.
A Sunday afternoon shooting on Spatz Avenue left 27-year-old Anquanh Parham dead in the front yard of a home. Police blocked off the 4300 block and 4400 block of Spatz after finding multiple shell casings. Parham’s death was ruled the city’s 12th homicide. No arrests have been made.
A murder-suicide on May 31 rattled the family of 51-year-old Hector Sustaita. Police said Sustaita was killed by his girlfriend’s ex-husband after an altercation in the 2500 block of Brooklyn Avenue. Sustaita’s death was ruled the city’s 13th homicide and the man who killed him was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot at a home on East Tabor Street.
15-year-old John Bennett, Junior was shot and killed near Avondale Avenue and Baxter Avenue on June 16. Investigators said Bennett was found in an alley after being shot in the head and leg. They’re not sure why he was in that area.
The the 15th homicide occurred at 4:20 a.m. June 21 in the 5200 block of Lillie Street. Family members said Nick Scroggins, 14, Fort Wayne, was shot outside his home. Investigators at the crime scene marked more than 50 numbered evidence placards.
Emmanuel Freeman became the latest teenager to be murdered in the city on June 27. Freeman was found dead inside an apartment in the 3300 block of Diplomat Drive at the Diplomat Apartments. A woman called police after finding him inside. He is the sixth person aged 18-and-under to die via homicide in 2016.
A shooting that was likely the result of a fight took the life of Domonic J. Norton, 28, Fort Wayne. Norton was shot and killed in the 4100 block of Euclid Avenue July 5 shortly after midnight. Police named a person of interest but they have not said if anyone has been arrested.
The city’s 19th homicide took place July 6 on McKinnie Avenue. 28-year-old Edword Kiel was shot and killed. Christopher Figgs was charged with Keil’s death – his trial is scheduled for late February.
23-year-old Dominique Williams was the city’s 20th homicide victim on Aug. 5. Williams shot during a robbery at home at Preston Pointe Apartments around daybreak.
The city’s 21st homicide happened on Aug. 10 around 10:50 p.m. in the 2400 block of Gay Street. Dominique Mitchell, 21, was found shot in the middle of the street.
19-year-old Leon-Dre Z. Kyles-Thomas was homicide victim number 22. He was found shot near Greene Street and Bowser Avenue. Daquavion Johnson is facing a murder charge in connection with Kyles-Thomas’ death. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 31.
The shooting death of Jeffrey Lute happened Aug. 14 at Texas Roadhouse on West Washington Center Road. His death was the city’s 23rdAndrew Cassaday is facing a murder charge and is expected to go to trial in January.
17-year-old Kevin Hamilton was charged with the killing of 18-year-old Brian Quintana at Woodbridge Apartments on Aug. 14. Hamilton and another juvenile were initially charged but the second juvenile was released due to “insufficient evidence.” Prosecutors decided to try Hamilton as an adult – his trial is slated to start in late January.
The 25th homicide happened Aug. 21 in the 1400 block of Schilling Avenue in the morning. 22-year-old Samuel Hardrix was stabbed to death in the backyard of a home on the city’s near-northwest side. Aaryn Snyder, an admitted white supremacist, admitted to the killing, according to court documents.
On Aug. 29, Nelson Antonio Lemus-Munoz was shot and killed in the 2900 block of Stardale Drive. The 26th homicide happened after a fight at a gas station, according to police.
24-year-old Jamal Anderson was killed on Sept. 2 in the 1400 block of Greene Street. Police said Anderson was killed during an altercation with Mylinque Wallace at the Villages of Hanna Apartments. Wallace is scheduled for a 3-day jury trial in February.
11, 2016 will perhaps be one of Fort Wayne’s most tragic days. Four people were killed inside a home on Holton Avenue. The quadruple homicide took the lives of Traeven Harris, Dajohiona Arrington, Consuela Arrington, and an unborn baby. 20-year-old Marcus Dansby was arrested hours after the killings. Dansby faces four murder charges and an attempted murder charge. 14-year-old Trinity Hairston survived the ordeal and is expected to recover after being shot multiple times. He is expected to go to trial in late February.
Following the quadruple homicide, two days later on Sept. 13 a triple homicide at the notorious Sports and Spirits claimed the lives of Nicholas Powers, Demario Burnett, and Jerry Coleman. All three were shot to death and no suspects have been arrested. Sports and Spirits has since closed permanently.
The 35th homicide took place at 4131 Avondale Drive around 11 p.m. Sept. 20. 55-year-old Robert Moore was shot and killed on the front porch of his home.
40-year-old Jamarkis Carter was shot and killed in the 4400 block of Warsaw Street in the evening hours of Sept. 26. His death was the 36th homicide of 2016.
The death of 66-year-old Frank Macomber is tangled in a tragic story involving the deaths of two children at the hands of their mother. Amber Pasztor admitted to killing Macomber in northwest Allen County before she broke into her father’s house and kidnapped her two children. She later killed the children and admitted to the murders of all three to police and in an interview with NewsChannel 15 from jail.
The 38th homicide in Allen County and Fort Wayne occurred on Oct. 7 in the 5300 block of Stony Run Lane. Joseph Schroeder was shot and killed by two Fort Wayne police officers after Schroeder held a 9-year-old hostage inside a home. The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office is still reviewing the case.
Another officer-involved shooting happened Oct. 8 at the Hallmark Inn. 62-year-old Charles Antrup was shot and killed by police after he charged at officers while holding a knife. The Allen County Prosecutor’s Office is still reviewing the case.
The 40th homicide of the year took the life of 31-year-old Erin Lecretia Lawson on Oct. 16. Lawson died after being shot inside a car near Colerick Street and Holton Avenue. A man inside the car was also shot – he survived.
Reyna Elida Ramirez-Coronado, 36, was shot and killed in the 4700 block of Warsaw Street on Oct. 16. Police haven’t released much information about her death. A man was shot at the same time and was initially hospitalized in critical condition. Police, at the time, said the shooting might have been a domestic situation.
A Fort Wayne woman was killed in New Haven on Oct. 19. Investigators said Jaime Klein was found stabbed to death in a home on Hartzell Road. The county’s 42nd homicide was the first to occur in New Haven in nearly 20 years.
In a separate case, but the county’s 43rd homicide – the body of Anton Moore was found in a ditch on Fairfield Ave. on Oct. 19. Police said Moore and Klein were in a relationship. There have been no arrests in either case and police haven’t said if the two homicides are connected.
22-year-old Devonte Jones was shot and killed near the Weisser Park Pavillion on Oct. 26. The county’s 44th homicide remains unsolved.
20-year-old Romeo Kamale Cansler was found shot to death in a car on Monday, November 28 in a field off Holgate Drive. The case is still under investigation.
Sha Rif, 22, was found shot to death in the parking lot of a gas station on South Lafayette Street on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 30. Police have not developed any suspect information.