Most homicides in Columbia since 2005
Columbia police detectives are investigating their sixth homicide of 2016, which is the highest number the department has seen in more than a decade.
Keith Chambers, 33, was pronounced dead at a hospital Thursday after police said he was shot on Claudell Lane during a drug deal.
Police arrested two 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old in connection to Chambers’ death.
Officers have now made arrests in four of the six homicide investigations this year.
No arrests have been made in the shooting deaths of Gabrielle Rhodes, 24, and Ricky Randolph Jr., 25. Rhodes was shot and killed in the 1500 block of Sylvan Lane on April 25. Randolph was found dead from at least one gunshot wound inside a home in the 2900 block of Leeway Drive on June 25.
“Our detectives are still actively working all of the homicides that have occurred this year,” said Bryana Larimer, a spokesperson for the Columbia Police Department. “Daily, there’s tips that still come in, so we follow up on those leads as often as we get them in.”
In 2005, 477 violent crimes, including rape, assault and robbery, were reported to police. Detectives investigated seven homicides that year.
According to crime data compiled by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, violent crime in Columbia for 2016 is down by 14 percent compared to 2015.
So far in 2016, 434 violent crimes have been reported to police. In 2015, there were 600 violent crimes reported during the year, which included only one homicide. It was Columbia’s highest violent crime number since 2007.
Latest numbers through October show a decrease in aggravated assaults and robberies in Columbia this year. Meanwhile reported rapes have increased by 11 percent.
