The number of murders through mid-June has gone up in comparison to 2017.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the number of murders through June 11 is 65 while the number of murders through June 11, 2017, was 59. The map below looks at murders in LVMPD's jurisdiction in 2018. For a map also including North Las Vegas and Henderson, click here.
Now, there is a difference between murder and homicide. While all murders are homicides, not all homicides are murders. Homicide refers to the killing of a person by another person even if it is justified, such as a shooting or stabbing in self-defense. However, murder refers to the intent behind the killing.
Through the first part of 2017, Las Vegas police investigated 66 homicides but only 59 of those were classified as murder.
Where did these crimes occur? Through June 11, 2018, they have occurred across 28 different zip codes, compared to 23 different zip codes in 2017.
In 2018, the zip codes with five or more murders included 89102, 89121 and 89115. 89102 includes the area mostly west of Interstate 15 to about Decatur Boulevard and from Spring Mountain Road north to Charleston Boulevard. 89121 consists of Eastern Avenue east to Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue north to Sahara Avenue. 89115 goes north from Owens Avenue to well past the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and from Pecos Road east to Nellis Boulevard.
89115 is the one zip code with five or more murders in both 2018 and 2017.
In addition to 89115, the zip codes 89101, 89106, 89108, and 89110 each had five or more murders in 2017. The zip code 89101 consists of most of the downtown area from Charleston Boulevard north to Owens Avenue and from just east of Interstate 15 to Pecos Road. 89106 is in the Historic Westside, east of Rancho Drive to about Interstate 15 and from Charleston Boulevard north to Lake Mead Boulevard. 89108 includes area east of U.S. 95 to Rancho Drive and going from Lone Mountain Road south to Washington Avenue. 89110 goes from Pecos Road east to Los Feliz Street and from Charleston Boulevard north to Owens Avenue.
Other zip codes hit by murders in 2018 include 89128, 89177, 89108, 89169, 89106, 89156, 89142, 89145, 89110, 89107, 89117, 89101, 89104, 89109, 89183, 89119, 89124, 89103, 89139, 89118, 89120, 89148, 89130, 89030 and 89122.
In 2017, other zip codes included 89156, 89122, 89147, 89121, 89102, 89130, 89155, 89128, 89129, 89166, 89119, 89109, 89103, 89145, 89169, 89107, 89146 and 89104.
Now, what sort of murders are occurring around Las Vegas?
In the first part of 2018, there were at least 15 murders that were the result of domestic incidents, including family members, roommates or those in romantic relationships. One of the more recent incidents involved Rodesha Jones. Police said she fatally stabbed her longtime boyfriend, Mario Scanga, in May.
Of the murders so far in 2018, at least 45 of those killed were the result of shootings. This included the serial shooter case, in which Joshua Castellon allegedly killed two homeless men and shot two other people in January.
In March, Las Vegas police arrested four alleged MS-13 gang members for at least 10 murders in the past year, including several in the first part of the year. Those killed died as a result of stabbings and shootings.
In the first part of 2017, there were at least 10 murders that were a result of domestic incidents. One of the highest profile ones was the death of 13-year-old Aaron Jones, whose body was found in the desert area off Boulder Highway in April. His father and stepmother were arrested in the case.
Shootings led to the deaths of at least 35 people in the first part of 2017, including the shooting on a bus on the Las Vegas Strip in March 2017. The other causes included stabbings, beatings and strangulation.
