At midyear, Jacksonville homicides are way down: Here's who is dying, where and how
As of July 2 we've reached the halfway point to 2024, and Jacksonville has shown a remarkable decline in the number of people killed by others. The city is unofficially at 46 homicides at the start of the month and is on pace for fewer than 100 killings for the first time since 2011.
At this time last year, Jacksonville registered 67 homicides and ended the year with 157. The city reached 50 by May 2. The Times-Union has thoroughly documented the city's death toll for the last 21 years.
The Times-Union compiles its database with a summary of who, what, where, when and why from information available through police and public records. Each case is updated when there’s an arrest and other developments. However, the Sheriff's Office deems some cases pending and limits their details.
Here's what have we learned: Among this year's first-half victims, nine were 17 or younger compared to four at this time last year. The overwhelming majority of victims were Black with 33 as opposed to seven white and four Hispanic and two not reported. That compares to 55 Black victims, nine white and three Hispanic midyear in 2023. Arrests have been made in 14 of this year's cases. Five women have been killed so far as opposed to seven last year.
The locations of killings so far this year have been much more spread out with the deadliest ZIP code being 32205 in the Murray Hill area with eight followed by five in 32244 on the Westside. Last year at this time 32209 in the Moncrief area was the most dangerous ZIP code to live in and 32218 near the airport was next with six.
As of July 1, 2024's homicides mean 1,461 people are among the city’s casualties since 2014. In the last decade, Jacksonville averages about 140 homicides per year, about one homicide every couple of days.
Here's a closer look at the 2024 data and how it compares to recent years. Please note that the listed addresses for where the killings occurred often are not direct but the block that the Sheriff's Office provides.
How many homicides have been recorded in Jacksonville this year vs. last year?
Jacksonville homicide rate in 2023: Deaths by race, gender, age
KEY STATISTICS
A closer look at who is dying in Jacksonville's homicides this year.
Victims, by gender
2024: Gender of homicide victims
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Victims, by age
2024: Homicide victims by age
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Victims, by race
2024 homicide victims - race
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All 2024 homicides in Jacksonville
Here's a closer look at all of the homicides in Jacksonville this year, including what we know about each one, including the victim's name, location, cause of death, whether there's been an arrest and more. (View additional homicide details by clicking or tapping on the entry or see more entries by scrolling down.)
What's the long-term trend of homicides in Jacksonville?
Since 2003, when the Times-Union began its recordkeeping of the city's homicides, Jacksonville saw a low of 86 homicides in 2011 and a high of 177 — more than double the 2011 total — in 2020. Only twice since 2003 — in 2010 and 2011 — has the city recorded fewer than 100 homicides in a year.
About this data
As a footnote, The Times-Union’s numbers may vary somewhat from the Sheriff’s Office due to some procedural differences. As the Sheriff's Office updates its numbers with developments, perhaps a new ruling on whether a case is a homicide or not or one where the individual died several days later, it often does not alert the media. So sometimes updates may go unnoticed. In addition, the Sheriff's Office sometimes isn't consistent on what homicides are included — for instance this year new changes to its transparency page do not provide access to pending death cases or count police shootings as homicides. The Sheriff's Office had counted police shootings, which by definition are still homicides, in the past. So they will remain in the T-U's data.
The Times-Union tries to maintain consistency in how the newspaper's numbers are reported. So these statistics do not reflect deaths in the Beaches municipalities that are outside of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction. Atlantic, Jacksonville and Neptune beaches typically only have a couple of homicides each year and two so far in 2024.
The other terminology to note is the difference between a homicide and a murder: They are not interchangeable. Murders do not include justifiable actions such as self-defense or just cause; homicides do. A homicide is the killing of one person by another, even if accidental or justified. So homicide numbers will always be higher than the murder totals that law enforcement agencies include in their Uniform Crime Reporting to the FBI.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville homicides rate in 2024: Deaths by race, gender, age
