
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 6, 1994                   TAG: 9407060068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

RICHMOND MURDERS SET RECORD

Seventy-eight people were murdered in Richmond in the first half of 1994, a record for the period and a 47 percent increase over last year's six-month total of 53.

``Bit by bit, block by block, the venom is spreading,'' Mayor Leonidas B. Young said.

The city's murder rate has been among the highest in the nation for a decade.

Police Chief Marty Tapscott said organized gangs cannot be blamed for this year's carnage. The killings mostly have come one at a time, with a handful of double homicides and one triple homicide - fueled largely by arguments, drugs, alcohol and greed.

By and large, ``people are being killed by people they know,'' said Capt. Teresa P. Gooch, head of the violent crimes division of the Richmond Police Department.

Gooch and others in law enforcement are concerned that the problem could get worse, because the number of people between the ages of 13 and 25 is rising sharply. Statistics show this is the age span during which violent criminals ``start their careers,'' Gooch said.

For some inner-city teens, Young said, the ``badge of honor is not a Cub Scout or Boy Scout badge. It's having a gun and killing someone.''

Eight juveniles, including several 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, have been charged in Richmond slayings during the first six months of 1994.

The average age of the Richmond victims was 31, the same as last year.

The youngest victim was 7-month-old Shamont D. Brownlee, who died Jan. 23. Police said he was scalded to death by his mother's jealous boyfriend.

The oldest was 81-year-old Richard E. Smith, a church deacon who was shot to death May 1 outside his home during a robbery.

Of the 30 cases that police list as solved, the average age of the suspects is slightly higher than last year's average age of 20.

Records show that about 90 percent of this year's victims were shot to death, compared with last year's 86 percent. At least 45 percent of all victims were shot in the head, something Tapscott blames in part for this year's death-toll increase because head wounds are more often fatal than other types of wounds.

by CNB