By Laura Isensee
The Miami Herald
Last year, ten women were murdered in Hialeah.
Nearly all their deaths were domestic-related, making domestic violence the culprit behind a spike in homicides in Hialeah last year.
In 2010, Hialeah police reported 12 homicides. That’s a 50-percent increase from 2009, when police saw 8 homicides.
Some of the tragedies include the following:
* In June, a deranged husband burst into Yoyito Cafe-Restaurant and killed his wife and three of her co-workers, who were closing the popular, family-owned eatery. He shot himself in the head a few blocks away.
* In August, a boyfriend shot and killed his 15-year-old girlfriend, Lisset Perez, and her mother outside their apartment building.
* In December, authorities found the bodies of an elderly couple in their Hialeah home, the result of an apparent murder-suicide. Police had responded to the home four times in four years for domestic-related disturbances at the home.
Last year, the city of Hialeah launched an information campaign to combat domestic violence and with the release of crime statistics, Hialeah police again urged victims to report domestic abuse.
“Domestic violence cannot be a private matter,” Hialeah police spokesman Carl Zogby said in a statement.
Sexual offenses and aggravated assaults also increased last year in Hialeah. In 2010, there were 108 sexual offenses, a 25-percent increase from 86 sexual offenses in 2009.
Last year, Hialeah saw 575 aggravated assaults, a 10-percent increase from 522 assaults in 2009.
Other less violent crimes declined last year:
* Robberies dropped 17 percent, to 256 incidents.
* Vehicle thefts dropped by 8 percent, to 1,067 incidents.
* Larceny fell slightly by 4 percent to 5,693 reports.
Hialeah Police Chief Mark Overton said in a statement that the police department is going to “work very, very hard to continue to see those crime numbers drop.”
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