Where Richmond homicides happen

There have been 12 homicides in Richmond thus far this year, not including a fatal shooting by a Richmond police officer that is still under investigation.

In aggregate, that number is a promising statistic consistent with the decline in Richmond’s overall violent crime and the lowest homicide rate the city has seen in decades.

But each red dot on the crime map represents a place where an individual was killed. They are homes, businesses, sidewalks, and street corners; Richmond residents live and walk in the midst of these homicide scenes everyday.

These venues aren’t concentrated in distinct swaths of violence and, other than the occasional lingering tribute to a deceased loved one, are not easily detected by passersby.

Their banality often belies the bloodshed they’ve played host to.

As police labor to solve the mysteries of who did what in these settings and why, the locations morph from crime scenes to shrines and then back to generic city blocks. Just as quickly as they pierced the public consciousness, they recede into the urban landscape.

But as news writers and readers let these addresses be forgotten, victims, witnesses, mourners and detectives remember the macabre scenes.

All 13 are included in this photo gallery.

For more on this topic, read Martin Totland’s story, Richmond police stats show decline in homicides (Interactive Map)