Earlier this month, we reported on crime statistics for Capitol Hill for the first four months of 2009 — turns out, the bad economy has us all stealing from one another as theft was up more than 50% compared to the same period in 2008. We also noted that statistics when it comes to extremely serious crimes like murder and rape in a smaller area like Capitol Hill don’t tell the story. So we promised to follow up and report separately on the most serious crimes.
Today, we’ll look at details of Capitol Hill’s 2009 two homicides and compare to the deaths in the first months of 2008. CHS hopes to follow up with additional information on the rapes that have occurred but it’s a big task — as the crimes weren’t reported on at the time they occurred, we need to dig through Seattle Police Department media reports by hand or file an information request — both aren’t fast solutions.
2009 Capitol Hill Homicides – January — March: 2
Jan. 4: Hip-hop artist , known as 29-E, died in the Chop Suey shooting. The 24-year-old was caught in the crossfire of a dispute involving other men. 18-year-old Carlos Bernardez was charged with first degree murder and awaits trial.- Jan. 22: 55-year-old Roanoke Park resident was found dead in the basement of his home under mysterious circumstances. At the time, police said Thompson ‘may have been stabbed.’ We’re checking with SPD on the status of the investigation but were told SPD would only be able to let us know if it was still being investigated as a homicide or not and would not be providing further details.
2008 Capitol Hill Homicides – January — March: 2
- Jan. 26: Jr., 25, was shot outside the Baltic Room nightclub. No charges have been filed for his murder.
- Apr. 14th: , 24, was found beaten to death at a construction site in the 900 block of 7th Ave. While the area is technically First Hill, we include the incident as the beat that covers the area is mostly responsible for Capitol Hill policing. Two men were charged with first degree murder in the brutal crime and await trial.
