Murders in N.O. rise sharply in July; 2016 total is highest July tally since 2012

With July 2016 setting new records as the hottest July in New Orleans in recent history, it should come as little surprise that last month was the deadliest month of 2016 and the deadliest monthly total since December 2012.

Despite programs and initiatives like NOLA for Life, Peacekeepers, CeaseFire and Midnight Basketball, 26 people were murdered in July, bringing the murder total to 95 as of August 3.

Despite the spike, that figure is lower than last year’s homicide total through the end of July, which was 114.

On the final day of July, there were three murders committed within a two-hour period, including the two brothers of reality-TV star Toya Wright, the mother of rapper Lil Wayne’s daughter. Wright’s two brothers were shot multiple times as they sat in a car in the 7th Ward.

Before last month, March 2016 was the deadliest month this year with 15 homicides reported.

August was off to a bloody start with five murders committed over the first four days of the month.

Despite July’s murder total and August’s bloody start, the city is still on pace to have fewer murders than last year’s total of 164.

Community leaders have said that the city needs to do more than simply implore young people to say no to violence to further reduce the murder rate.

Recommendations have including improving public schools, improving access to better-paying jobs for young people and their families, community policing, more mentorship programs, after school programs, job training and access to mental health care.

“Job training is an area where the impact could potentially be significant,” the Rev. Raymond Brown, a community activist and president of National Action Now, told The Louisiana Weekly. “But first we need to get local elected officials to admit that the city’s current ‘job-training’ program is actually a job placement program. We need a job-training program for young men and high school dropouts who fall through the cracks and can still benefit from job training while making an effort to work toward earning a G.E.D.”

This article originally published in the August 15, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.