Page 37 - Florida Sentinel 7-30-21

Crime
55 People Die During 6 Months Of Violence
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
During the period of 6 months, from January 1st through June 30th of this year, 55 people have died as a result of violence. Some of the cases were not prose- cuted for various reasons.
This information per- tains to deaths within the City of Tampa and the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Of- fice.
City of Tampa Murders
Addressing the rising number of homicides, Tampa Mayor Jane Cas- tor said, “Cities across America are seeing rising murder rates, but in Tampa the killing of so many of our young men is unacceptable.
“We need the community to speak up and help us catch the killers. Tackling this urgent problem is a top priority of this administra- tion that requires fighting on multiple fronts: reducing the supply of guns, effective law enforcement, and, espe- cially, improving opportuni- ties for our young people. But ultimately community involvement is the key to keeping our young people alive.”
In most instances, the names of the victims were not released due to Marsey’s Law. However, in other cases, the family gave per- mission for the name to be released in hopes of solving the crime.
Within the City of Tampa, there were a total of 26 deaths. All of the victims were men between the ages of 16 and 67-years-of age. Twelve of those cases have been solved.
Three murders took place on January 10. The first victim was a 36-year- old man in the 3000 block of Morgan Street. Thirty-six- year-old Derrick Hutchins was arrested in June and charged with first- degree murder.
The second murder took place in the 3900 block of
JAMES GORHAM ... died April 29th
DERRICK HUTCHINS ... Charged with the first murder in the City of Tampa January 10th
VICTOR JIMENEZ
... Found dead at the corner of W. Gray Street and Os- borne Avenue January 10th. The case remains unsolved.
ZAVON GUNDY
... died while at the Columbus Court Apart- ments on January 21st
COREY PUJOLS ... Charged with manslaughter
KANYE MORDICA ... Charged with second- degree murder
ORBO BAILEY
... Charged with murder that took place in April
W. Osborne Avenue. The victim was 54-years-old and the murder remains un- solved.
The third murder that day took place in the 6200 block of N. 40th Street. A woman and man, both 24, were injured by gunfire. The woman survived the shoot- ing. The case remains open.
On January 21st, a 24- year-old man died while at 2800 Satellite Court. The case remains open.
Police responded to the 9800 block of N. 10th Street on January 30th. The victim was a 26-year-old man and the case remains open.
The sixth murder in Jan- uary took place on January 31st in the 3500 block of E. Osborne Avenue. A 17-year- old male died and the case is still under investigation.
The month of February also had six murders. The first took place in the 2000 block of E. Busch Blvd., on February 6th. The murder of the 22-year-old victim re- mains unsolved.
The second murder on
that day took place in the
th
2300 block of E. 9 Avenue.
The victim was 41-years-old and the case is still being in-
vestigated.
On February 20 , a 67-
year-old man died while in the 3000 block of W. Crest. No arrests have been made in the case.
A 34-year-old man died while in the 3100 block of E. 27th Avenue. The case has been exceptionally cleared. The name of the suspect was not released.
Police exceptionally
JOILICA SUTHERLAND ... Charged with manslaughter
JAHLIL LEWIS
... died on January 20, 2021 while at the Cypress Trace Apartments
th
cleared the murder of a 34- year-old man that took place in the 900 block of S. 22nd Street.
An individual was ar- rested in connection with a death that took place in the 900 block of E. Annie on February 24th. The victim was 20-years-old.
The first murder in the month of March involved two victims. The first was that of an 18-year-old male and the second was that of a 27-year-old man. The dou- ble murder took place in the 8100 block of N. Brooks Street and remains an active investigation.
The following day, a 28- year-old man was killed in the 10600 block of N. 30th Street. An individual whose name was not released was arrested.
On March 20th, police re- sponded to the 2300 block of W. Waters. A 24-year-old man died at that location and the case was exception- ally cleared.
Five deaths took place during the month of April. It took place at 10700 N. Cen-
tral Avenue. An individual was taken into custody, but the name was not released. The victim was 45-years-old.
On April 19th, two men were killed in unrelated cases. The first took place in the 8400 block of Elmer and remains open. The victim was 40-years-old. The sec- ond case, in which an arrest was made, involved a 27- year-old man and took place in the 2900 block of Mel- bourne Blvd. An arrest was made in that case.
The 2200 block of E. Lake Avenue was the scene where a 38-year-old man died on April 23rd. The case was exceptionally cleared.
The final murder of the month took place on April 29th in the 2600 block of N. 24th Street. The case remains open and the victim was 24- years-old.
Detectives investigated one murder during the month of May. It took place in the 400 block of S. 50th Street. The victim was 77- years-old and was a cus- tomer at Dunkin Donuts and was struck by an employee,
Corey Pujols, after the vic- tim used a racial slur. Pu- jols was charged with manslaughter after he struck the man and the man hit his head on the floor and later died.
Four murders took place in June, with the first occur- ring June 4th in the 1700 block of W. Main Street. The victim was a 50-year-old man and an arrest was made in the case.
On June 6th, police re- sponded to the 1300 block of Sitka. An arrest was made in the case and the victim was a 64-year-old man.
On June 9th a 22-year-old man crashed his vehicle into a guardrail on southbound I-275 at Busch. When police arrived, they discovered the man had been shot and the case remains open.
On June 30th, a 27-year- old man was shot several times while sitting in his ve- hicle in the parking lot of 4100 Kenneth Court. The case remains open and ac- tive.
To be continued next week.
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