Last year, Charlottesville had four cases of homicide, resulting in five deaths — the highest number of annual homicides since 2008. City Police Captain Gary Pleasants said the statistic is anomalous and does not indicate any particular trend.
"Unless the reported cases are connected in some way, there is no reason to think this type of crime will continue at the same rate,” Pleasants said. “Homicides are one of the most difficult, if not impossible, crimes to predict.”
The first case took place May 10, when Antonio Washington, 30, was stabbed at Al Hamraa restaurant. Just one week later, Avery Gray Jr., 39, shot Oscar Brown, 36, outside of an apartment complex on Hardy Drive.
Suspects in the Washington and Brown cases still await trial, while the death of Otis Edward Scott, 27, has yet to be linked to a charge. Scott was outside of a home on Prospect Ave. when he was gunned down over July 4 weekend.
A Dec. 6 house fire on Rugby Ave. added two more homicides to the count. Police found the remains of Robin Aldridge, 56, and her 17-year-old daughter Mani at the scene. Evidence revealed that the two were beaten to death before the house was set ablaze.
Only a few days later, 30-year-old Gene Washington was arrested and charged with the two counts of first degree murder for the house fire case.
All four cases this year are still being processed by the court system.
“This has been a highly taxing year on the police department and was particularly rough from September on,” Pleasants said. “It was essential for us to be able to work through every case without being distracted onto one track because of what the public or media believed.”
*1/26/10: Morgan Harrington's remains found; Harrington confirmed dead. 5/3/10: Murder of Yeardley Love.
*10/18/2014: Hannah Graham's remains found.
The case of missing second-year College student Hannah Graham was the only homicide in Albemarle County in 2014. Graham was reported Sept. 13 and her remains were found in October. Charlottesville resident Jesse Matthew was indicted Tuesday on counts of first degree murder and abduction with the intent to defile.
Albemarle County Police Chief Steve Sellers said his department works closely with the Charlottesville Police Department in many cases.
“When a homicide does occur, we often work alongside our law enforcement partners including the City of Charlottesville,” Sellers said. “We work together and remain committed to combating crime and doing everything we can to keep our communities safe.”
Graham was seen in surveillance videos away from University facilities the night of her disappearance and was later found miles away from her residence, illustrating the scope of the community that University students belong to, Pleasants said.
“Students are part of our community like anyone else,” Pleasants said. “We encourage everyone on the Charlottesville community to practice caution in any situation and will be coming out with helpful tips very soon.”
Pleasants said the Charlottesville Police Department hopes the other work they do to keep down crimes such as domestic violence helps to prevent homicide in turn. The rate of violent crime for the nation is down, and Pleasant said he sees it as positive and hopes to move forward with the decreasing trend.
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