Region homicide numbers down overall in 2023, data shows

NORTHWEST INDIANA — Despite concerns about violence in the Region, homicide numbers decreased in 2023, according to data provided by local authorities. 

Data shows there were 74 homicides in Lake County in 2023. The Lake County coroner’s office investigated 70 of these homicides in 2023, a sharp decrease from 100 homicides in 2022. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office investigated the remaining four homicides. Homicides the county decreased by approximately 30% from 2022 to 2023, according to the data from the coroner’s office. Porter County’s homicides decreased from four in 2022 to two in 2023, data from the Porter County coroner’s office shows. The LaPorte County coroner was unable to provide numbers in time for the publication of the story.

Gary had the highest number of homicides last year, according to data from police, with 52 homicides in 2023. However, this is an 18% decrease from 64 in 2022, Gary police Capt. Samuel Roberts said. They reported 48 homicides in 2021.

Thirty of the 2023 homicides have been charged or closed in connection with these killings. The coroner’s office investigated 48 of the Gary homicides; the remaining three cases were investigated by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Chicago.

Gary introduced their Real Time Crime Center in November, which police hope will assist in the department’s clearance rate, which is the number of reported crimes solved per year. The center is a hub for various technologies used by the department, including body-worn cameras, license plate readers, shot detectors and security cameras. Technicians and officers can connect to the tech and see what is happening in real time.

Hammond had the second highest number of homicides last year, but also reported a significant decrease compared to years prior. They recorded six homicides in 2023 compared to 11 in 2022 and 16 in 2021. Hammond police Chief William Short said they’ve used new technology to analyze crime patterns, allocate resources more efficiently and respond rapidly to violent crimes.

“Our Blue Net license plate reader system allows real-time tracking of violent offenders throughout our city and allows law enforcement to find and stop them,” he said. “The newly deployed Fusus camera registry system enables police to better assess, and rapidly respond to, criminal activity and emergency situations. It also enables investigators to easily gather evidence in case of an incident.”

“These combined efforts create a comprehensive approach to addressing the root causes of violence and promoting safer communities,” Short said. 

East Chicago came in with the third highest number of homicides in Northwest Indiana. Chief Jose Rivera said their homicide numbers have steadily decreased over the last few years: in 2021 they reported 13 homicides and 11 in 2022, he said. They reported five in 2023. 

Rivera said he attributes this to a combination of multiple factors. They adopted a program called Resource Router that is ran through ShotSpotter, the latter technology of which they’ve used to identify areas where gunfire erupts for 13 years. The data shows where officers are needed the most based on call volume, shots fired and written reports. They began to send officers on duty to the areas that appeared to to be patrolled more frequently.

“Once we started hitting the hotspots, we saw crime just drop,” Rivera said. 

Rivera said an officer will park in the area and turn his lights on. He said he believes their presence in the area acts as a deterrent.

The creation of the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force in March has helped increase solvability of homicides in the county, Prosecutor Bernard Carter said. Task force data provided by Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Timothy Brown shows investigators closed 74% of cases they investigated and increased the rate of homicides solved by approximately 13% compared to the previous year by the former Lake County Metro Homicide Unit. Homicide call outs for the task force were down approximately 18% from the preceding year, which Carter said indicates a reduction in homicides. 

“My office is pleased with the results from the first year of the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force,” Carter said. “In expanding and working with partners passionate about the task force, the county was able to see an increased homicide solve rate over years prior and a reduction in the overall number of homicides.”

Although the decrease in homicides can be celebrated, each person who makes up the 76 victims in Lake and Porter counties who died last year leave behind many loved ones who are still struggling with their grief. As investigators work to solve the homicides, families work to heal and are left wondering why their loved one’s life was taken at the hands of another human. 

For Jaylen McFarland’s 21st birthday in January 2023, his mother, Melissa Clay, gave him $2100.

Jaylen, who grew up in Portage, was a sheet metal worker who did construction while he prepared to obtain his commercial driver’s license. Clay gave him the money to help him repair his car she had gifted him, a Nissan Altima. Part of the money, she said, was to go toward a necklace Jaylen wanted to purchase with a spot for a picture of his father, LaMontrell, who died by homicide the year prior. Jaylen had been struggling to handle his grief since his father died, she said.

“The $2100 didn’t cover everything,” Clay said. “But I thought it would really help him get out of that funk.”

Two months after Jaylen’s 21st birthday on March 26, Clay received a call from an acquaintance. The acquaintance had been at a party where Jaylen had been severely hurt, Clay said. The man guided Clay turn by turn to get to the area where Jaylen allegedly was. 

“I’m so sorry, y’all have my condolences,” the man said and hung up the phone. 

Clay’s stomach dropped. 

Earlier that night, Jaylen told Clay he was going to a party on the 2300 block of Jackson Street with friends whom he had known for years. She was apprehensive about the party; she knew there would be women, alcohol and other substances. She told Jaylen not to go, but she recognized that he had recently turned 21 and understood his desire to do something purportedly fun, given that he’d been grieving so deeply over the last year.

“I told Jaylen, ain’t nothing good is going to come from this party,” Clay said. “And who would have thought when he was getting ready for that party he was getting ready for his death.” 

Gary police said officers and fire personnel were dispatched around 12:01 a.m. to the 3100 block of Chase Street near the area of the party and saw a black Jeep Cherokee fully engulfed in flames. Jaylen and 52-year-old Maxie Rallings were found in the car, dead.

The incident was initially classified as a vehicle crash that caused the car to catch fire, Lake County Homicide Task Force Detective Gary Runde said. The task force didn’t find out until a few days later that it was a homicide after the Lake County coroner’s office found both of the men with multiple gunshot wounds and ruled their deaths homicides, he said.

These circumstances of the case put investigators a “few days behind,” Runde said. They weren’t dispatched to the scene and the bodies were badly burnt, which created challenges. However, he said they have two suspects who they think killed Jaylen and Maxie.

“Now we’re just at a stand still,” Runde said. “We know who did it, but it’s about being able to find enough evidence to prove it.”

Similarly to Northwest Indiana, national homicide numbers have decreased each year since 2020, despite an increased fear in Americans about the rise of crime. AH Datalytics, a company that tracks year-to-date murder rates and analyzes crime data, projects an approximately 12% decrease in homicides between 2022 and 2023, based on preliminary data analysis. 

A Gallup poll conducted in October shows 63% of Americans describe the crime problem in the U.S. as either extremely or very serious. According to the poll, this has increased by 9% compared to opinions polled in 2021. In 2000, 60% of people polled believed the crime problem was extremely or very serious, as well as in 2010 and 2016.

More data on violent crime is available through the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Law enforcement agencies self-report their crime statistics each year to the FBI.

Preventing crime is also community effort, law enforcement professional have said. Community members can play a role in solving and stopping crimes by reporting suspicious incidents to local authorities. If you see something, say something, police said. 

Clay has a few ideas about who killed her son and wishes more people would come forward with information. She said she feels like his homicide was planned. 

“I feel like Jaylen’s was personal,” she said. “He didn’t deserve this.”

BREAKOUT: Anyone with information on the homicides of Jaylen McFarland and Maxie Rallings can call the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force and ask for Detective Runde.