Of 2018’s 30 homicides, eight have not been cleared. So far in 2019, two of the seven slayings remain mysteries.
“The biggest issue that the Columbus Police Department has … is that nobody wants to talk,” said Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan, echoing the assistant police chief.
“There might be 40 people standing around when the shooting occurred, but you’ve got one dead and 39 don’t know a thing, didn’t see a thing, didn’t hear a thing.”
Does that surprise him?
“That’s a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ question,” he said. “Yes, I am surprised, because what if it were their son or their daughter? They would want someone to speak up … and let the police follow up on those cases.”
But in another way, it’s not surprising, he said, because he knows a victim who was gunned down the day before he was was due to testify in court.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that somebody shot him in retaliation or to prevent him from being a witness,” Bryan said, so it’s no wonder others don’t want to talk. “And I can’t hardly blame them, sometimes. They know the system, you know, the rules: If you snitch, you might be the next victim.”
“We had one incident where an individual’s brother got killed, and he told a detective, ‘It’s your job to clear it, not mine.’ It’s his own family,” Slouchick said.
These are the 2018-2019 homicides, classified as murders by police, yet to be cleared:
- Rufus Mabry Jr., 30, was shot outside a grocery store June 2, 2018.
- Timothy Frederick Whitehead, 25, died from his wounds after being dropped off at the hospital July 14.
- Emanul Marquites Banks, 18, was shot July 19 on Winston Road.
- Joshua O’Neal, 32, was shot Aug. 2 at Bull Creek Apartments.
- Stanford Jones, 44, was gunned down Aug. 10 in his Mellon Street home.
- Thalmus Jones, 41, was shot dead Sept. 8 at Rigdon Road and 10th Street.
- Joseph Emanuel Banks, 41, and son Je’Caiden Banks, 3, were shot to death Nov. 27 outside a vacant house at 6 Stuart Drive.
- Henderson Thomas Darrisaw, 29, was shot Jan. 26, 2019, outside a party on Reese Road, where he had been playing cards.
- Davis McFarland, 53, fatally shot Feb. 24 on 25th Street near Hamilton Road.
Anyone with information on those cases may call detectives at 706-653-3400.
Police have no specific strategy for preventing homicides, which so often involve factors beyond law enforcement’s control.
“If you figure out how to stop murders, then you’ll be a millionaire,” Slouchick said. “You know, we can’t get into people’s heads; we can’t get into their hearts.”
But investigators can use any information they get to clear the cases that remain unsolved.
“I think they can trust that if they give us the information, we’ll act on it. But not wanting to be a snitch – people consider coming in and telling us that they witnessed a murder and who did it, that’s ‘snitching.’ – that’s something that we’re trying to overcome, because these cases are happening in their neighborhoods, next to their children, their wives, their sisters, their mothers,” he said. “These violent crimes are happening there, and we need the public’s assistance like we always do to combat this violence.”
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