37 homicides rank 2020 among city's deadliest
This year marks one of the deadliest in Edmonton, with 37 homicides recorded in 2020.
In 2011, there were 48 homicides, marking the city's deadliest year. There were 45 homicides in 2017, 41 in 2016 and 39 in 2005. With 37 confirmed homicides as of Dec. 31, 2020 rounds out the city's top five deadliest years since 1999.
There were 10 more homicides this year compared to 2019, which ended with 27 homicides, one of the lowest years the city has seen.
But for Edmonton police Chief Dale Mcfee, homicide numbers are not a factor the service weighs.
“We don't really measure that, because one is too many, that's not how we measure success,” said McFee in a recent interview.
“But when you actually break into the data and look at some of those homicides ... 17 of them have some connotation of drugs related, seven of them have gang activity, three of them have domestic violence.”
Mcfee said the level of violence such as shootings and domestic violence has gone up in 2020. During a November news conference on violent crime in the city, Mcfee said at the time there had been 7,816 domestic violence violations compared to 6,737 at the same time last year, for a 16-per-cent increase.
BY THE NUMBERS
■ Of the 37 homicides in 2020, 31 victims are male and six are female. Four of the victims are under 18 years old.
■ Ten victims died from gunshot wounds — including an officer-involved shooting that killed 48-year-old Marty Powder, which Edmonton police do not include in their homicide count. Seven victims died of stabbings, six died of “sharp-force injuries,” two of blunt-force trauma and one was involved in a hit and run. Eleven of the homicide victims had their cause of death either withheld for investigative reasons or unknown and pending further testing.
■ Three people have been charged with first-degree murder while 16 have been charged with second-degree murder.
During that same November news conference, Mcfee spoke on the 19 people facing homicide charges.
“Ten of the 19 accused have a criminal record and nine do not, so it's not like we don't know who we're looking for in many of these things,” Mcfee said. “Nine of the 19 had outstanding warrants at the time of their arrest.”
There are 17 homicides where no one has been charged, while the death of 39-year-old Teresa Dejesus Esquivel-robles was labelled as a murder-suicide. Powder's death remains under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.