After Louisville experiences record-breaking year of homicides, trend continues into 2021


After Louisville experiences record-breaking year of homicides, trend continues into 2021

Nearly 20 criminal homicides were reported in the city of Louisville last month, doubling last January’s total and following a record-breaking year of homicides.”Nobody should have to feel this type of pain,” said Michelle Woodard, the mother of Malik Savage.July 13, 2020, is when her life changed. Her 20-year-old son was shot to death in the Portland area.”He was with three other people, so it was a total of four, and only one person ended up dead and the other three walked away,” Woodard told WLKY.Fast forward to February 2021, still, no answers, and police haven’t made any arrests. Following more than 170 criminal homicides in 2020, Louisville saw 18 in January of 2021, doubled from last January.Dr. Eddie Woods with the violence intervention group “No More Red Dots” says he’s not surprised the numbers aren’t slowing down.”Most of those folks who do the shooting and so forth and who are involved in those areas where shootings happen, they don’t adhere to pandemic guidelines or none of that,” said Woods.He says this isn’t a switch that was going to be turned off at the start of 2021. Woods says he’s seen more effort by community leaders and the city, such as creating the group violence intervention, to address this crisis.”The wheels are turning slowly because folks have to have their meetings and they have to have a meeting for the meeting they just had and that makes it move slowly but there are efforts afoot to kind of pull things together a bit,” Woods told WLKY.For parents like Woodard and others who haven’t had closure, it’s something they’re hopeful they’ll see one day.”All I want is for his death to not be in vain, for him to have some type of justice,” she said.Out of the 18 homicides in January, an LMPD spokesperson says six have resulted in an arrest or a suspect being identified.

Nearly 20 criminal homicides were reported in the city of Louisville last month, doubling last January’s total and following a record-breaking year of homicides.

“Nobody should have to feel this type of pain,” said Michelle Woodard, the mother of Malik Savage.

July 13, 2020, is when her life changed. Her 20-year-old son was shot to death in the Portland area.

“He was with three other people, so it was a total of four, and only one person ended up dead and the other three walked away,” Woodard told WLKY.

Fast forward to February 2021, still, no answers, and police haven’t made any arrests. Following more than 170 criminal homicides in 2020, Louisville saw 18 in January of 2021, doubled from last January.

Dr. Eddie Woods with the violence intervention group “No More Red Dots” says he’s not surprised the numbers aren’t slowing down.

“Most of those folks who do the shooting and so forth and who are involved in those areas where shootings happen, they don’t adhere to pandemic guidelines or none of that,” said Woods.

He says this isn’t a switch that was going to be turned off at the start of 2021. Woods says he’s seen more effort by community leaders and the city, such as creating the group violence intervention, to address this crisis.

“The wheels are turning slowly because folks have to have their meetings and they have to have a meeting for the meeting they just had and that makes it move slowly but there are efforts afoot to kind of pull things together a bit,” Woods told WLKY.

For parents like Woodard and others who haven’t had closure, it’s something they’re hopeful they’ll see one day.

“All I want is for his death to not be in vain, for him to have some type of justice,” she said.

Out of the 18 homicides in January, an LMPD spokesperson says six have resulted in an arrest or a suspect being identified.


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