Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Article: Percentage of female homicide victims grows

FLINT (WJRT) -- (03/28/11) -- The city of Flint has now recorded its 15th homicide of the year.

After a record number of homicides in 2010, 2011 is off to a deadly start for both men and women in Flint.

"Every life is valuable, and no one deserves to be murdered," Flint Police Capt. T.P. Johnson said.

Of the 15 homicide victims this year, six are female victims. Four of them were mothers and one was a four-month-old baby.

"There is no conspiracy or no connection between these cases at all," said Johnson.

While Flint police say the numbers do not point toward a trend involving women and violence, Harmony Langford with the YWCA says the numbers speak volumes. "As proponents of educating people on domestic violence, we always want the numbers out there and we always want it discussed that violence against women is a huge issue."

Langford says violence against women has gone up 460 percent since 2009. She blames the economy and a culture of violence that has always existed in Flint.

"Many of the girls we see have a brother or a boyfriend or a cousin that has been killed, that has lost their life as a result of the violence in Flint, so they've become hardened to it. It's not completely unusual to them to see someone die," Langford said, "and it becomes almost an acceptable way of life and that's what we have to work on."

Police are still searching for a suspect in last night's killing of Laverne Himes. They're also looking for suspects in three of the other six cases.

If you have any information, call the Flint Police Department.

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