Louisville's March 2022 homicides: 18 deaths include 2 domestic violence cases
March was a violent month in Louisville with 18 people being killed - twice as many as the month before.
All of the victims were shot to death, aside from one woman who died due to blunt force trauma.
One of the cases was ruled a murder-suicide. Two of the killings of women were allegedly related to domestic violence. Arrests were made in seven of the cases.
A map of Louisville's 2022 homicides
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Anyone with information about these homicides can contact the Louisville Metro Police anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673) or provide information online at p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=563.
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What we know about March 2022's victims:
Nicholas Clay
Clay, 42, was shot March 1.
Louisville Metro Police officers responded about 9:45 a.m. to the 1200 block of Clay Street, where they found Clay shot. He was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead.
No arrests have been made in his case.
Wilson Mugisha
Mugisha, 18, was found fatally shot March 2.
Officers responded to a parking lot of Louisville's E.P. Tom Sawyer Park, in the 3000 block of Freys Hill Road, about 7 a.m.
Mugisha was pronounced dead at the scene.
In April, a 16-year-old was charged in connection with Mugisha's killing, as well as another killing that occurred later in March.
Dominique Williams, Sr.
Williams, 31, was found shot to death inside an apartment March 5.
Officers responded to the 4900 block of Saddlebrook Lane at 10:20 a.m.
No arrests have been made in his case.
Michael Cooks and Maleke Seviour
Cooks, 19, and Seviour, 21, were found dead inside an apartment March 5.
Officers responded to the apartment in the 7100 block of Yorktown Terrace about 12:15 a.m. Cooks and the other man were found with multiple gunshot wounds.
No arrests have been made in their case.
Christopher L. Reliford
Reliford, 26, was found dead inside a vehicle March 6.
Officers responded to the 100 block of Markwell Court just after 7:30 p.m. to check a suspicious vehicle. There they found Reliford, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. He lived at the address where the shooting occurred, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
No arrests have been made in his case.
D’Anthony D. English
English, 22, was fatally shot March 9 alongside another man who sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting about 4:30 p.m. at a food mart in the 3500 block of W. Broadway. There they found English, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Moments later, according to LMPD, officers received a call about a man who had been shot in the 700 block of Sutcliffe Avenue, about a block away. He was taken to U of L Hospital with injuries that did not appear life-threatening.
The two shootings were believed to be connected, police said at the time. No arrests have been made in the case.
Davida Pendleton
Pendleton, 42, was fatally shot in what appeared to be a murder-suicide March 9.
About 6:30 p.m., officers responded to a home in the 13700 block of Blakely Lane, south of Valley Station near the Bullitt County line. There, they found Pendleton and an unidentified man dead.
The unidentified man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
Israel Planche
Planche, 18, was fatally shot March 13.
Planche was brought in a private vehicle to St. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital about 11:30 a.m. She was then taken to U of L Hospital, where she died.
Police said it was not immediately clear where the shooting happened, but the coroner's office identified the location as the 1400 block of Huntoon Avenue.
Elijah Grisby, 18, was arrested later that day and charged with murder in her death.
Grisby allegedly was in a vehicle with Planche when he shot her in the face before fleeing the scene, according to his arrest citation.
Donald Newton
Newton, 58, was found dead March 15.
Officers responded to Eva Bandman Park, which sits along the Ohio River, about 1 p.m. and found Newton, who was shot to death.
No arrests have been made in his death.
Ricky L. Harris
Harris, 31, was found shot March 18.
Officers responded to the 100 block of Woodmore Avenue at 9:45 a.m. There they found Harris, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
No arrests have been made.
Paula Rife
Rife, 50, was shot March 18.
Officers responded to the 6300 block of Hackel Drive just before 10 p.m., and they found Rife dead inside a residence, which was where she lived, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
Samuel David Bradford was arrested about 40 minutes after the shooting and charged with domestic violence murder and two counts of wanton endangerment in connection with gunfire that hit two nearby homes.
Rife was married to Bradford, according to his arrest citation.
Jimmy Spruill
Spruill, 30, was shot March 19 at a gas station.
Officers responded to the 4200 block of Poplar Level about 7 p.m. and found Spruill, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers also found a woman who'd been shot, who died later that night.
The following morning, LMPD announced Dakari O. Deener, a 29-year-old man from Chicago, had been arrested and charged with two counts of murder.
Deener's arrest citation said he was arrested at the Speedway and had been identified by multiple witnesses as the person who shot the two victims.
Brooke Smith-Bess
Smith-Bess, 23, was shot March 19 at a gas station.
Officers responded to the in the 4200 block of Poplar Level about 7 p.m., where they found Smith-Bess, who was taken to U of L Hospital. She died later that night in surgery.
The following morning, LMPD announced Dakari O. Deener, 29, of Chicago, had been arrested and charged with two counts of murder.
Deener's arrest citation said he was arrested at the Speedway and had been identified by multiple witnesses as the shooter.
Anthony D. Watkins
Watkins, 54, was shot multiple times March 19.
Officers responded to the 100 block of East Kingston Avenue about 10:50 p.m. and found Watkins. He was taken to U of L Hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
No arrests have been made in his case.
James Cameron Shickert
Shickert, 17, was found shot to death inside his car in a parking lot March 20.
Officers responded to an East End retirement home in the 2900 block of Goose Creek Road about 12:30 a.m. where he was pronounced dead, according to an LMPD statement.
About three weeks later, police announced a suspect had been charged in connection with Shickert's death.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with murder and possession of a handgun by a minor. He was also charged with Mugisha's killing earlier in March.
Yvonne Felmle
Felmle, 74, died March 22 due to blunt force trauma sustained three days earlier.
Officers responded to the 4800 block of South Fourth Street on March 19 at 10:34 a.m. on a call about a fall. Yvonne Felmle told officers that her husband threw her to the ground during an argument.
After she died, Thomas Felmle, 76, was charged in connection to the death of his wife. He was charged with first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree domestic violence.
She had been taken to U of L Hospital due to a "golf ball sized knot" on the back of her head and she suffered a "major brain bleed" and fractured ribs, according to his arrest citation.
The coroner's office cited blunt force trauma and homicide as her cause of death.
Richard Bell Jr.
Bell, 32, was shot March 28.
Officers responded to the 3600 block of Parthenia Avenue about 10:30 p.m. There they found Bell, who was taken to U of L Hospital in critical condition.
He died two days later on March 30.
No arrests have been made in his case.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What we know about Louisville's March 2022 homicides
