Coast murder rate flat, but murder-suicides up

The number of criminal homicides across the coastal counties is one fewer this year than last year.

Twenty-two killings were reported in the tri-county region last year, compared with 21 this year.

But six slayings were the result of a murder-suicide, possibly the region's highest ever. One of those included the death of a Gautier woman whose boyfriend alerted police he'd shot her, and killed a fellow faculty member on the Delta State University campus, then took his own life near Greenville.

Law enforcement officials across Harrison, Jackson and Hancock counties say the lack of a drastic increase is a relief, especially for officials who had feared acts of a criminal subculture in the first half of this year could result in more killings in the second half.

Harrison County had 12 killings this year, one fewer than last year.

Jackson County had seven, two fewer than last year.

Hancock County, which had no slayings last year, has had two this year.

A Sun Herald review of the killings shows all but three involved a gun, and most victims knew their killers. Two of the fatal shootings also led to woundings of three other people.

Arrests have been made in all but two of the other 16 killings, and only one has resulted in a capital murder charge. There were no double or triple homicides.

A homicide is the killing of one person by another. Numbers compiled for this report do not include killings considered self-defense.

Capital murder

The lone 2015 capital murder case involves a man killed and his car stolen, Gulfport police said. Capital murder, which carries a possible death penalty, is a killing that occurs during the commission of another crime.

Raymond Howze III, 19, had stopped at a convenience store on Old Pass Road early one Sunday night in January. Police say a man shot him dead and stole his white 2008 Chevy Cobalt. The man accused of killing him was arrested after a shootout with state troopers in New Mexico. Police said he was driving Howze's car.

Howze was studying at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to be a pharmacy technician. He had attended Gulfport High and graduated from Long Beach High. Friends described him as a leader and role model whose infectious smile and personality inspired others. Relatives said he had three younger brothers who adored him.

Two cases unsolved

Arrests have been made in all but two of this year's murder cases.

Waveland police are trying to figure out who shot Jason Duffy multiple times Nov. 29 in his home on Dicks Street. Police have released a neighbor's surveillance video that shows two people walking in the area.

Duffy, a father, was 42. He died at a hospital after the shooting was reported about 4:15 a.m.

Bobby Harris Sr., 53, of Gulfport, also was a father. He was found dead from gunshot wounds July 12 in his apartment on 36th Street. Bullet holes in the building indicate the shooter fired from outside the home.

Neighbors said Harris was a quiet, polite man who enjoyed going to casinos and drinking coffee on his front porch while talking to his children by telephone. His family does not live in South Mississippi.

Gulfport's toll

Gulfport, which typically has the region's most homicides, has had seven this year, the same as last year. The city's killings rose to 17 in 2011.

By April, Gulfport police had investigated 22 shootings that wounded 15 people and killed five. The number killed was nearly as many as the city reported for 2014.

Police Chief Leonard Papania at the time said most of the city's shootings and killings involved illegal drug sales or were acts of a criminal subculture with no regard for others. He said he feared members of that subculture would cause other killings. The term refers to groups of people who embrace a lifestyle of crime and violence.

Papania called a press conference to launch a campaign against the city's criminal subculture after a deadly weekend with two unrelated killings.

The deadly weekend

Anessia Daniels, 43, was shot to death April 18 and her son was wounded when seven 9 mm rounds pierced her Gulfport home on 34th Avenue. Papania said Daniels' son was the intended target.

Her son, 25, had taken 100 grams of Spice from an acquaintance and hadn't paid for it, according to court testimony. Three men went to Daniels' home to look for her son. Daniels opened the door and called for her son, who slammed the door when he realized who it was. The shooters are in their early 20s, police said.

Daniels was shot twice and died of a gunshot wound to the chest. Her son was shot in the leg.

The next day, 18-year-old Robert Johnson was killed in an exchange of gunfire at Ashton Park apartments. Papania said it appeared Johnson was killed in an act of self-defense.

Johnson and his 20-year-old brother had been yelling at a woman with a 2-year-old child, Papania said. The woman's boyfriend drove up, along with a friend, and put the woman and child in his car. The brothers, brandishing firearms, got into their vehicle and followed the car as the man tried to get his family to safety, he said.

The man was getting his family into their apartment when the older brother reportedly fired at him through a courtyard, and the man grabbed a shotgun, returned fire and called police.

Papania said the city's shootings were in line with a nationwide trend of young black men targeting other young black men in violent acts. U.S. Justice Department statistics show 77 percent of homicide victims nationwide are male, as are 66 percent of the perpetrators, and nearly half the victims are black and ages 20 to 24.

'Change or leave'

Papania minced no words at his press conference in April. To the criminal subculture, he said, "We will be relentless in our pursuit to identify you and arrest you. So you can either change, you can leave or you can go to prison."

He urged residents to refuse to tolerate any criminal activity or social media posts among youths that glamorize a criminal lifestyle. Reporting smaller crimes, he said, can prevent more serious crimes.

He called on state and federal agencies to help arrest people who are wanted on warrants or new charges. In less than three months, 107 people were arrested in two roundups that each lasted several days.

Soon after, a neighborhood street gang mocked Gulfport police in a video posted on YouTube. The rappers appeared to be using drugs and drinking alcohol. One rapper said if the police chief wants them to leave town, he should give them the money to leave.

"Feel free to pack up," Deputy Police Chief Chris Loposser responded in a Sun Herald interview. "Their neighbors will help them load the truck. Their neighbors don't want them there. It brings down the qualify of life."

Some in the video were later arrested on previous or new charges.

"They couldn't say we didn't warn them," Loposser said.

Killings reduced?

Has Gulfport's campaign reduced killings or crime in general?

"It's hard to measure something that hasn't happened," Papania said. "Barring the next couple of weeks, we're still at the same level of homicides as last year."

"But yes, I believe it's been effective. We're still experiencing violent crime, but it's related to that criminal subculture. We're trying to curtail it through drug enforcement and the investigation of property crimes."

Papania said law-abiding residents have responded by calling police about suspicious activity.

He listed several cases of recent shootings with injuries involving young adults and drugs.

"What concerns me the most," he said, "is in their youth, they're engaging in things that are taking a hard toll on their lives or they succumb to their wounds. I don't think they would have all grown up to be hardened criminals. But in that careless time, their bad judgment is having long-lasting effects."

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Coast murder rate flat, but murder-suicides up ."