Statistics Canada singles out Windsor for 2018 homicides

Windsor may welcome 2020 soon, but Statistics Canada is still examining data from 2018 — such as the city’s number of homicides that year.

According to a report released Thursday, Windsor’s 10 murder investigations in 2018 represented one of the most dramatic increases in homicide figures across the country that year.

Windsor had three murder investigations in 2017.

Out of the 36 census metropolitan areas examined in the study, only Toronto had a bigger increase — going from 93 cases in 2017 to 142 cases in 2018.

Those jumps contributed to Ontario reaching a record high number of homicides in 2018 — 266 cases, the most the province has seen since Statistics Canada started collecting such data back in 1961.

The resultant homicide rate for Ontario (1.86 per 100,000 people) was the province’s worst since 1991.

But the findings for 2018 weren’t all negative.

In contrast with Windsor, the community of London experienced a slight decrease in homicide cases — from seven in 2017 to six in 2018.

And despite Ontario’s new record, the total number of homicides in Canada decreased, from 666 in 2017 to 651 in 2018.

The data show that murder remains a relatively rare occurrence in Canada, representing less than 0.2 per cent of all violent crime in this country.

Meanwhile, as Windsor enters the last month of the year, the city is on pace to have fewer murders in 2019 compared to 2018.

The fatal stabbing of Justin Greenwood, 20, on Oct. 19, was Windsor’s fifth and most recent homicide investigation of this year.

Three males were arrested as suspects.

Mustafa Al- Qaysi, 19, and a male under the age of 18 have both been charged with first-degree murder. Muntather Al-mehmodi, 19, has been charged with accessory after the fact.

Other homicide investigations this year were:

The death of Gerardine Butterfield, 63, in her apartment on Wellington Avenue on May 25.

The death of an infant on July 2. The baby was brought to hospital on June 8, and eventually succumbed to its injuries. Both of the child’s parents have been charged with second-degree murder.

The death of a 64-year-old woman at a house on Mill Street on July 24. Her son, Alexander Mackenzie, 33, has been charged with first-degree murder.

The death of a woman at a residence on Moy Avenue on Aug. 9. Johnathon Dasilva, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder.

None of these tallies include the disappearance of Jerome Allen, 29, who remains missing and is presumed dead by Windsor police.

Allen was last seen alive on Oct. 20, 2018.

Windsor police have categorized the case as a homicide investigation, but no one is currently facing charges and it is unclear if the victim’s remains have been recovered.