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Dayton homicide count ahead of 2008

22 people have been slain this year, including 5 in June.

Staff 2009 greater Dayton area homicide victims

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 11:59 PM Sunday, June 28, 2009

Despite a decrease in the percentage of city homicides that involve gangs, the body count is ahead of last year’s pace, and June has been a particularly busy month for investigators.

After Wallace Hailey Jr., 32, was shot and killed Wednesday, June 24, by two men who were apparently at his home on Alcott Drive to commit robbery, there have been 22 homicides for the year. Five have occurred in June, making it the busiest month in the Miami Valley since January, when seven were killed.

“You don’t want to say it’s weather-related, but we do tend to see more homicides in the summertime,” said Dayton police Lt. Patrick Welsh. “Sometimes they come in waves.”

There has been a slight reduction in the percentage of homicides that are gang-related, Welsh said. Last year, 40 percent of the homicides involved gangs or similarly organized groups. This year eight of 22, or 36 percent, are classified that way.

Welsh said a trend running through this year’s homicides is that many have seemingly occurred because of small-time marijuana use or sales. In the past, Welsh said, many killings occurred around larger-scale heroin, cocaine or other hard-drug distribution.

“The disturbing aspect of several of the homicides this year is that they seem to be related to the trafficking of marijuana,” Welsh said.

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