Hamilton Already Has Fourth Homicide of 2016

Hamilton Police have reported that a man in his forties was shot to death outside a barbershop on Upper Wellington between Queensdale and Brucedale yesterday afternoon. No name has been released yet. Police report four black males were seen running from the scene, but there have been no arrests.

That's the fourth homicide of 2016 in the city and the first in the three Mountain wards. Hamilton had only six homicides in all of last year. Tomorrow I'll make a post breaking down the four murders so far. 

Hamilton's Second Homicide of 2016 Has Already Occurred, Richard Crowder

There has been yet another homicide in Hamilton on the weekend.Richard Crowder (31 years old) was stabbed on Sunday afternoon (January 24th) at 86 Birge Street, between East and Victoria Avenues North in Ward Three. No suspects have been named.

Two murders in January is well ahead of the pace of last year's six murders.

First Homicide in 2016 For Hamilton,

Hamilton has had its first homicide of 2016, an unidentified woman found strangled to death early Saturday morning at the Admiral Hotel on Dundurn Street North. That is in Ward One. Hamilton had no murders in Ward One in 2015. Hamilton's last murder was Carmon Ward, in Ancaster, as yet unsolved on December 21st.

Breakdown of Hamilton's Six Murders in 2015, Carmon Ward Added

Breakdown of Hamilton 2015 homicides to this date with the sixth murder, Carmon Ward. All murders have been in the lower city apart from the latest two, in Waterdown and Ancaster. There have been four male victims and two female victims. All suspects are males. Of the six killings, three are shootings. You can find a list of the seven 2014 murders in Hamilton here.

Date of Murder		Victim	Victim's Age	Cause of Death	City Ward	Suspect
January 8th, 2015		Nathan Miller	20	Shooting	3 (28 Madison Avenue)	Male 15, Jemaal Wilson, 20, Shamoiey Akindejoye 21
March 25th, 2015		Renee Neganiwina	26	Fire?	4 (561 Kenilworth Avenue)	Joseph Snelgrove, 38
May 15th, 2015		William McConville	40	Beating	2 (Stinson and Victoria)	Gordon Eugene O'Hara, 33, and Joshua Vernon O'Hara, 27
August 12th, 2015		Shariek Douse	18	Shooting	2 (MacNab Street North and Simcoe Street)	N/A
August 13th?, 2015		Lori Constable	55	Asphyxiation	15 (Riley Street, Waterdown)	Wayne Constable, 55 (husband, deceased, murder suicide
December 21st, 2015		Carmon Ward	60	Shooting	12 (Miller Drive, Ancaster)	N/A

Hamilton's Sixth Homicide, Carmon Ward

Carmon Ward was killed during a home invasion on December 21st in Ancaster. Ward, was a 60 year old male and killed by a gunshot wound to the chest. No suspect names have been released. The house was on Miller Drive, which is in Ward 12 and is Ancaster's first murder of the year. Ward is the third shooting victim out of six homicides in Hamilton this year.

Hamiltons's Fifth Homicide of 2015, Lori Constable 55

Hamilton's fifth murder of 2015 took place in August sometime around the 12th. Originally the deaths of Constable and her husband were a mystery, however according to this Spectator article, Lori Constable was smothered by her husband Wayne, also 55, at their home on Riley Street in Waterdown. This is the first murder outside of the inner city wards of Hamilton in 2015.

Breakdown of Hamilton's Four Murders, Shariek Douse Added

Breakdown of Hamilton 2015 homicides to this date with the fourth murder, Shariek Douse. All murders have been in the lower city. Three. male victims and one female victim. All suspects are males. Of the four killings, two are shootings.

Date of Murder		Victim	Victim's Age	Cause of Death	City Ward	Suspect
January 8th, 2015		Nathan Miller	20	Shooting	3 (28 Madison Avenue)	Male 15, Jemaal Wilson, 20, Shamoiey Akindejoye 21
March 25th, 2015		Renee Neganiwina	26	Fire?	4 (561 Kenilworth Avenue)	Joseph Snelgrove, 38
May 15th, 2015		William McConville	40	Beating	2 (Stinson and Victoria)	Gordon Eugene O'Hara, 33, and Joshua Vernon O'Hara, 27
August 12th, 2015		Shariek Douse	18	Shooting	2 (MacNab Street North and Simcoe Street)	N/A

Arrests in Made in January Slaying of Nathan Miller, First 2015 Murder in Hamilton

The Spec is reporting that two arrests have been made in Nathan Miller's slaying on January 8th. Miller was shot at a house at 28 Madison Avenue.

One arrested was a 15 year old boy who can't be named due being a young offender. Also arrested was a 21 year old man, Shamoiey Akindejoye.

Jemaal Wilson, 20, is in custody for unrelated charges and will also be charged in the slaying.

Two other suspects, both young black males are sought.

Hamilton so far has three murders in 2015.  

Breakdown of Hamilton's Three Murders in 2015, Updated with Arrest of William McConville Alleged Killers

Breakdown of Hamilton 2015 Homicides to this date including the most recent homicide of William McConville and the arrest of his alleged killers:

Date of Murder		Victim	Victim's Age	Cause of Death	City Ward	Suspect
January 8th, 2015		Nathan Miller	20	Shooting	3(28 Madison Avenue)	N/A
March 25th, 2015		Renee Neganiwina	26	Fire?	4(561 Kenilworth Avenue)	Joseph Snelgrove, 38
May 15th, 2015		William McConville	40	Beating	2 (Stinson and Victoria)	Gordon Eugene O'Hara, 33, and Joshua Vernon O'Hara, 27

Breakdown of Hamilton's First Three Murders of 2015

Breakdown of Hamilton 2015 Homicides to this date including the most recent homicide:

<

Date of Murder		Victim	Victim's Age	Cause of Death	City Ward	Suspect
January 8th, 2015		Nathan Miller	20	Shooting	3(28 Madison Avenue)	N/A
March 25th, 2015		Renee Neganiwina	26	Fire?	4(561 Kenilworth Avenue)	Joseph Snelgrove, 38
May 15th, 2015		William McConville	40	Assault	2 (Stinson and Victoria)	N/A

Third Hamilton Murder of 2015, William McConville

The Spec is reporting that William McConville, 40, died from his injuries on Friday (May 15th) after an assault on May 12th.

Two black male subjects are being searched for. The other two murders in 2015 were Renee Neganiwina and Nathan Miller.

Hamilton's Third Murder in 2015?

There was a shooting at a Queenston Road apartment building, with three people shot and one dead. From this CBC article it isn't clear whether the gunman died of a self-inflicted wound or what exactly happened. This could be Hamilton's third murder. Last year Hamilton had eight murders.

Second Homicide in Hamilton in 2015, Renee Neganiwina

Surly Hamiltonian has been tracking all homicides in Hamilton, but I've been late on reporting Hamilton's second homicide of 2015. This CBC Hamilton article covers the main points. The victim is a female, 26 year old Renee Neganiwina. Her live in boyfriend Joseph Snelgrove (38), is now in jail.

It seems unclear what the cause of death was. There was a fire, but that may have covered up the murder. The murder likely took place at the site of the fire, a home at 561 Kenilworth Avenue North, near Dofasco. That is in ward four.

With March pretty much done, that's two murders in three months for 2015. That rate pretty much matches the 8 murders in all of 2014 in the city of Hamilton.

Eighth Homicide of 2014 in Hamilton, Harmanjit Singh

The unusual disappearance of 19 year old Mohawk student Harmanjit Singh on October 27th always had the possibility that it would be because of foul play and indeed his body was found washed ashore from Lake Ontario.

The Spec has reported that 37 year old male Dashminder Deol has been charged with manslaughter in Singh's death. No cause of death has been announced.

Singh's death brings Hamilton's homicides to eight in 2014 compared to 13 in 2013. The location of the murder could be a home at Hannon Crescent in Ward 11 of Upper Stoney Creek, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

Update On Hamilton's First Murder Victim of 2015, Nathan Miller

The Spec has some updates on the first murder victim of 2015, 20 year old shooting victim Nathan Miller. Out of the five murders last year, only one was a shooting. The murder took place January 8th, at 28 Madison Avenue which is in ward 3. Ward 3 had two murders last year, along with wards 2 and 4.

From the Spec article, here's a description of the suspects:

"Police are looking for a black man 20 to 25 years old who they say pulled the trigger. He is described as about 6-foot tall with a stocky build. He was wearing a black jacket. 

The other suspects are described as: a black male, 5-feet-1, 18 to 25 years old, with his hair in braids; a blackmale, light skinned, 6-feet-5; a black male, 6-feet-5 with acne on his face and a male short in stature wearing a hoodie, whom police did not describe further."

It is unknown if Toronto resident Nathan Miller is black himself.

Hamilton Has First Murder of 2015

After a rather slow period for Hamilton homicide, the Spec is reporting on the first murder in Hamilton of 2015. An unamed as of yet male victim on Madison avenue close to Cannon and Sanford.

Hamilton had seven murders in 2014 and only one of them involved a gun.

2014 Hamilton Homicide Roundup: Seven Murders, Over Half of Killings By Stabbing

The year 2014 is done and it is time to go over the murders in Hamilton. I've been keeping track of them throughout the year and this year we ended up with seven murders, which is a large decrease from the 13 last year (please note this is in the city of Hamilton alone, not the census area). Things started off quickly, with three homicide in the first nine days and then only four more the rest of the year. In fact there were five in the first two months of 2014, so Hamilton seems to be a city of cold weather murders.

Assuming a population for the city of 520K, that works out to a relatively low 1.35 murders per 100,000. I believe that's lower than Toronto for 2014, but I'll have to check.

In terms of where the murders happened, all but one occurred in the lower city; the lone other murder was on the Mountain in Ward 8. In fact, wards 2, 3 and 4 all had two murders.

For causes of death, stabbing was by far the most common cause of death, with four out of the seven murders (time for a knife registry?). Only one murder involved a shooting.

Ages of the victims ranged from 14 year old Jessie Clark to 82 year old Mary Fletcher. Ages of the accused ranged from 18 to 57.

Two murders are currently unsolved (or more correctly no arrests), that of Marley Rowe and that of Richard Doucette.

Here's a table with a breakdown on the murders:

Date of Murder		Victim	Victim's Age	Cause of Death	City Ward	Suspect
January 1st, 2014		Marley Rowe	23	Shooting	3 (Barton and Sherman)	N/A
January 4th, 2014		Margaret Elizabeth Steer	56	Stabbing	2 (MacNab Street	Karen Flynn, 43
January 9th, 2014		Ernie Sitter	57	Blunt Force Trauma	4 (King Street East at Edgemont)	Rodney Ryan, 42
February 23rd, 2014		Mary Fletcher	82	Neglect	8 (Rymal Rd W, East of Garth)	William Fletcher, 57
February 28th, 2014		Richard Doucette	28	Stabbing	2 (103 Barton St. E near Mary St.)	N/A
August 18th, 2014		Jesse Clark	14	Stabbing	3 (Lincoln Ave and Gordon St)	Brodie Nicholls, 18
November 6th, 2014		Tony Robles	66	Stabbing	4 (33 Morley St. )	Jonathan Robles, 35

2013 Canadian Homicide Data is Out, Hamilton Had 15 Murders in 2013

Statscan has released data on murder in Canada in 2013 and the various Canadian newspapers have jumped all over it. The Globe has a good article here.

I wasn't sure of the exact number of murders last year in Hamilton, but apparently it is 15 (I had thought it was 13). That is a murder rate of 2.04 per 100,000 inhabitants. Interestingly that works out to a population of approximately 735,000 which is significantly higher than Hamilton's population. So that probably is the census area and includes Burlington and Grimsby but I could be wrong. So it could well be that Hamilton itself has had 13 murders in 2013, which would work out to a murder rate of 2.5 per 100,000 if we use a Hamilton only population of 520,000. Which isn't so great.

However Hamilton this year is doing a lot better on the killing front, with only 7 murders so far in 2014 with less than a month to do. If Hamilton gets through the year with only 7 that would work out to a rate per 100,000 of only 1.35 (using a population of 520,000) which would be considerably better. For 2013 Hamilton had the fifth most murders per capita, but a rate of 1.35 would move us well down the list.

Here's the murders for each city followed by the rate per 100,000 for all the cities Statscan tracks:

Regina 9 3.85
Winnipeg 26 3.24
Thunder Bay 3 2.46
Edmonton 27 2.09
Hamilton 15 2.04
London 9 1.8
Calgary 24 1.75
Vancouver 42 1.72
Abbotsford-Mission 3 1.69
Saskatoon 5 1.67
Kelowana 3 1.62
Gatineau 5 1.55
KW Cambridge 8 1.5
St John’s 3 1.62
Halifax 6 1.47
Barrie 3 1.44
Saint John 2 1.37
St Catharines-Niagara 6 1.35
Toronto 79 1.34
Montreal 43 1.68
Oshawa 4 0.97
Ottawa 9 0.92
Brantford 1 0.7
Trois-Rivieres 1 0.65
Kingston 1 0.61
Greater Sudbury 1 0.61
Windsor 2 0.61
Quebec 3 0.38
Victoria 1 0.28
Moncton 0
Saguenay 0
Sherbrook 0
Perterborough 0
Guelph 0

Hamilton Homicide Number Seven, Antonio Robles

Surly Hamiltonian has been trying to track all the homicides in Hamilton this year, so I'm catching up with all that's known about the seventh homicide. The 66 year old Antonio Robles was found stabbed to death on Thursday November 6th. His son, 35 year old Jonathon Robles has been charged with first degree murder.

Robles was killed on the grounds of Import Auto Works at 33 Morley Street near Parkdale. That is in ward 4.

In 2013 there were 13 homicides in Hamilton, so already well into November, Hamilton is on track to have less this year.  Six of the of the victims were male. All the homicides were in wards 2, 3 and 4 apart from one in ward 8.

The Spec Is Reporting Hamilton's Seventh Homicide of 2014

The Spec is reporting the city's seventh homicide of the year in the East end. No names, but the victim is a 66 year old man and a 35 year old man was arrested.

We've been trying to keep track of all the homicides in Hamilton this year. We'll update our list when more information becomes available and have an updated post with all the homicide information for 2014.