'This has been a very bloody year': D.C. murders nearing levels not seen in more than two decades

WASHINGTON (7News) — After the latest murder in D.C. brought the city closer to a grim milestone, one community leader is telling 7News On Your Side there needs to be more urgency as we head into the new year.

MPD officers were called to a hospital Saturday morning around 6:20 to respond to a male victim in his mid-to-late teens suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers learned the shooting happened on the 500 block of Florida Avenue NW, and the victim died in the hospital.

This marked the 272nd murder in D.C., the most since the city saw 278 murders in 2002 - more than two decades ago.

Kathy Henderson is the ANC Commissioner for 5D06, which covers parts of the Trinidad and Carver-Langston neighborhoods, and said this year's violence has been unacceptable.

"This has been a very bloody year in the District of Columbia. Our citizens are ending the year feeling afraid. They're feeling hopeful, but they're still mostly afraid. I hear it everyday. People have changed their holiday plans. A lot of people are not going out for New Year's Eve," Henderson said. "We have not done what we need to do to stop this horrible crime trend that has swept through 2023 and taken the lives of our citizens and our visitors."

D.C. has seen a 35% increase in murders compared to the same time last year.

This spike is happening as homicides have declined by 12% across the country, according to AH Datalytics. Major cities like New York, Chicago, and Detroit have even seen a decrease in murders.

"All of our elected representatives really need to work together to speak with one voice, and we need to stop using minimizing language. We need to call the violence - the abhorrent violence - what it is: it's unacceptable. We need to stop saying it's happening everywhere because it's not happening everywhere," Henderson said. "Why haven't we activated the National Guard? Why are we taking incremental steps in providing legislation that will give the police and U.S. Attorney's Office the tools they need to hold these people accountable, the people that are killing?"

7News On Your Side has extensively reported on public safety bills currently up for discussion at the D.C. Council.

This includes Councilmember Robert White's bill, which would be an all-encompassing response to the current crime trends.

"Hundreds of people a week are calling 911 and not getting an answer. I want to fix the 911 system. The Department of Forensic Sciences has lost accreditation, which means federal prosecutors can't prosecute most cases. I want to fix that. I want to track where guns are flowing from into our city," White told 7News earlier this month. "This is a bill that diagnosed what's wrong and is trying to fix what's wrong, not just throw things against the wall and see what sticks."

Since this interview less than two weeks ago, D.C.'s crime lab has regained partial accreditation more than two years after losing it - and the ability to test evidence - over accusations of mishandling evidence. The lab can now perform DNA testing, fingerprinting, and drug testing. They still have not yet regained accreditation for their ballistics unit, which is necessary to test evidence in gun-related crimes.

Councilmember Brianne Nadeau told 7News earlier this week it will now be up to the council to make sure the crime lab does not lose accreditation again.

"We need to keep holding the lab accountable, so that we know when someone commits a crime in the District of Columbia, the evidence around that crime will be collected and processed," Nadeau said earlier this week.

Henderson said this is a step in the right direction.

However, she told 7News she would like to see actions with more immediate impact in the new year.

"It's a tiny bit of good news, but it's not enough. We need to quicken the pace. Citizens can't wait. We cannot allow our citizens, our businesses to be pushed out," Henderson said. "I want citizens - even though this has been a bloody year - to feel hopeful and demand change. I want collective voices to call on the mayor, to call on the council, to do what needs to be done to make us safe again."