Grim milestone: Columbus passes record with homicide total of 144 in 2020 — so far

Another grim milestone has been passed in Columbus, in a year that already has taken an unprecedented toll on the city. 

The 144th homicide was committed early Friday. That surpasses the previous record of 143 homicides in one year, set in 2017. And it happened with 47 days still left in 2020.  

More:Under fire: Behind the increase in violence in Columbus

Columbus police were called at 3:51 a.m. Friday for a stabbing at a town house apartment complex on the 5700 block of High Rock Drive on the Northeast Side. The victim, identified as 58-year-old Kelvin Thomas, was officially pronounced dead at the scene at 4:23 a.m.

The incident occurred in the Traditions of Rocky Fork complex on the south side of Central College Road just east of Hamilton Road, in a portion of the city near New Albany and Westerville.

Police on Friday afternoon identified 26-year-old Djuan Jones, the grandson of Thomas, as the suspect in the stabbing. Jones, who has no listed last known address, has been charged with murder in Franklin County Municipal Court. He remains at large. 

One of the youngest homicide victims of 2020 was two years old

After a slower than average number of homicides to start the year — in large part because of stay-at-home orders and coronavirus restrictions — the rate of deadly violence skyrocketed during the summer months and has continued into the fall.

One of the youngest victims was 2-year-old Romere Harris, who was killed Aug. 12 when his 14-year-old uncle shot him while babysitting. Romere was called "Ro-Bugg" by his family, a combination of his mother's and father's nicknames.

Romere's mother, 27-year-old Robin Harris, said she never expected to lose her son, particularly not to gun violence.

"I didn’t understand why or how," she said. "I just wanted my son to live and I just prayed that he would live and if he didn't live, I didn't want to be here anymore." 

But with a 1-year-old daughter at home relying on her, Harris said she had to stay strong and is taking her loss day by day. 

"If you never experienced it, it's hard to know what to say about it other than you don’t want to experience it," Harris said of losing a child to violence. "Just put the guns down. Find another way to fight. Anybody that hasn’t been through it, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy."

Shortly after her son's death, Harris agreed to participate in a city sponsored public service announcement encouraging Columbus to stop the gun violence. It was a difficult choice, but Harris said she felt obligated to speak out.

"I just want people to hear my baby’s story and hopefully in hearing it, they can get it through to themselves or others and stop it," she said. "You can’t stop everybody, but hopefully, it can change somebody's life. A 2-year-old with gun violence, you know it’s getting bad out here." 

Growing homicides: The toll on investigators

The victims range in age from an unborn child, killed when his mother was shot in the stomach, to a 75-year-old woman. About 75% of the victims were Black, according to police records.

While the total number of homicides in 2017 has been reported repeatedly by the Columbus Division of Police on news releases and to the FBI in its annual crime report as 143, police have added nine cases tied to the deaths of patients under the care of Dr. William Husel at Mount Carmel Health System hospitals, bringing the total to 152. The Dispatch is using the 143 figure because the patient deaths were added in 2019 and the previous record was the number that was reported to have occurred within the calendar year 2017. In addition, the allegations that Husel committed homicides in the death of the patients in his care has not been proved in court. His trial is scheduled for next May. 

The rising homicide caseload in 2020 has taken a toll on the detectives assigned to investigate the city's homicides, Deputy Chief Tim Becker said. 

"I am concerned about the detectives," Becker said at a homicide scene in October. "The toll it takes, their phone ringing nonstop. All the scenes they are going to, all the trauma, dealing with the families on both sides."

The turnover in the unit shows the effect the cases have on the detectives, Becker said. Nearly a third of the 30 detective spots in the unit have been vacated through transfers out of the unit or retirements since the start of this year. Four vacancies came open in September and October, Becker said.

More:Mother begs for information leading to son’s killer

"There's nothing wrong with that; they've had enough," Becker said. "They can't keep up with the pace. It is so hard on them personally. It is hard on their families. They are called out from their families at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week."

To combat the emotional exhaustion, Columbus police began a pilot program in September. The program has moved all detectives to working a typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday, with teams of detectives assigned to respond to calls on a rotating basis when they occur outside those hours.

Becker said the goal of the pilot program is to split the workload evenly between all the detectives, rather than having the bulk of cases falling to those detectives working on second (3-11 p.m.) or third shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.). Before September, he said some detectives already had been the primary investigator on six cases. 

National best practice goals for homicide detectives is to be the primary or lead investigator on six cases for a year, Becker said. 

Cold case detectives, who normally do not take new cases as they occur, also are being temporarily assigned to help with the daily workload. 

More:In increasingly violent year, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers asking for help

Becker said the felony assault unit, whose detectives investigate non-fatal shootings and other felonious assaults, is also being pushed to its limits.

"It tears away at them," Becker said. "They know they have files on their desk that if they could just devote some time, they could take a shooter or a killer off the streets. But before they get an opportunity to really dig in, another case comes in and another case comes in."

"They’re always working out of a hole and trying to get to the surface, and before they get there, the hole gets deeper."

— Deputy Chief Tim Becker on Columbus homicide and felony assault detectives

Many of the felony assault cases are close to having been homicides, and might have been if not for the capabilities of modern medicine and bullets striking people millimeters to the left or right of vital organs. 

Chief Thomas Quinlan said the toll on detectives also is compounded by concern for patrol officers, who are in most cases the first at a crime scene.

"They are the ones holding (the victims') hands when they die; they are the last faces they see," Quinlan said. "Some officers are doing this a dozen times." 

The chief said he is not surprised by the turnover in the homicide unit but is concerned because experience is something that can't be replaced. 

"Sometimes you need to do something that is less heartbreaking every day," Quinlan said. 

Sgt. Eric Pilya, one of the sergeants in the homicide unit, said the lack of respect for human life frustrates his detectives.

"On patrol, you come to work, you take your runs and then you go home," Pilya said. "Homicide is unlike a lot of other units. Those open cases stick with you. You're having dinner with your family, but you're thinking about your case. You're trying to watch a football game and you're thinking about your case. You're always kind of on."

The emotional impact of dealing with grieving families also takes its toll, particularly in a year with outside stressors like the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's civil unrest.

"You add stuff in from people's personal lives, like kids going off to college or trying to get to an after-school game, it's challenging," Pilya said. "These guys are working six and seven days a week. You need some time to decompress." 

Gun violence remains at a blistering pace, with many cases unsolved

With 24 homicides occurring in October — the deadliest month of the year so far — the level of gun violence remains on a blistering pace. Becker said that despite the increased workload, he is proud of the number of cases being solved.

More than 52% of cases have been solved as of Nov. 2, Becker said. The national average is around 60%, he said.

"There’s so much loss of life and pain, and the trauma of the communities — not only somebody losing their life but also somebody else going to jail for life," Becker said

"Two mothers have lost their children at that rate — one to incarceration and one to death. How about their families, the witnesses, the people who were shot and survived and are living with that trauma for the rest of their lives? Do they escape that trauma cycle or do they spiral downward? Do they go on to lift our community up, or do they take the other route and become a burden on our society? None of us want the latter to happen."

Harris said Romere likely would have become a producer or otherwise involved in music because he loved to dance to anything, even elevator music. 

"Now, looking back, I know he was an angel on Earth," Harris said. 

Many homicide cases remain unsolved. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4730 or leave tips anonymously with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner