by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz

Indianapolis saw its worst murder rate in 2020.

The city saw 214 murders. That was 62 more criminal homicide than in 2019.   That was a murder every 1.7 days as opposed to every 2.4 days in 2019.   

The number of juvenile victims actually decreased from 15 last year to 11 this year and the average age of the murder victim increased from 28 to 34.  The number percentage of African-American murder victims dropped slightly from 75 to 73  percent; blacks make up about 30 percent of the city’s population.

Below are the comparative stats for 2020 and 2019…

2020 Criminal Homicide Stats

  • 81-percent of the victims had criminal histories and accounted for 918 adult felony arrests.
  • 85-percent of the suspects had criminal histories and accounted for 258 adult felony arrests
  • Seventy-three percent of the murders involved a black victim, even though blacks are less than 30 percent of the population.
  • Eleven of the victims and two of the suspects were under age 18.
  • 81 percent of the murders occur on the city’s north/northwest/east side.
  • The combined average age of victims is 34.  The combined average age of the suspects was 31.
  • In 64 percent of the cases, the relationship between the victim and the suspect was unknown.
  • Only 46 of the murders were known to motivated by a fight or domestic dispute.
  • 89 percent of the deaths were caused by gunshots.
  • October saw the most murders with 29.   
  • Sundays and Thursdays were the days murders were most likely to take place.  
  • And murders were likely to take place between 9 p.m. and midnight.

2019 Criminal Homicide Stats

  • 82-percent of the victims had criminal histories and accounted for 617 adult felony arrests.
  • 78-percent of the suspects had criminal histories and accounted for 243 adult felony arrests
  • Seventy-five percent of the murders involved a black victim, even though blacks are less than 30 percent of the population.
  • Fifteen of the victims and five of the suspects were under age 18.
  • 66 percent of the murders occur on the city’s north/northeast/northwest side.
  • The combined average age of victims is 30.  The combined average age of the suspects was 28.
  • In 73 percent of the cases, the relationship between the victim and the suspect was unknown.
  • Only 25 of the murders were known to motivated by a fight or domestic dispute.
  • 78 percent of the deaths were caused by gunshots.
  • Nearly 30 percent of the city’s murders occurred after September. 
  • Mondays and Tuesdays were the days murders were most likely to take place.  
  • And murders were likely to take place between 9 p.m. and midnight.