Lexington records lowest number of homicides in first two months of the year since 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - There have been fewer reported homicides at the start of this year compared to previous years.

Since the beginning of 2023, Lexington has only recorded one homicide, the lowest number of homicides since the beginning of the year since 2008.

This kind of statistic does not come randomly; it comes on the backend of many group and community efforts to make Lexington a safe place for everybody.

”The efforts that our community partners are putting forth has been huge, and ensuring that we are moving towards making our community and our city safer,” said ONE Lexington Community Outreach Advocate Kenneth Payne.

ONE Lexington is an initiative that works to coordinate, leverage and mobilize city government and community resources to reduce gun violence among youth and young adults in the City of Lexington. But the director of ONE Lexington, Devine Carama, says that a huge part of the organization’s success is because of their community partnerships.

“What we have seen is all of these different sectors within the city who previously didn’t work together come together, and that eliminates gaps in places where our underserved populations slip through the cracks,” said Carama. “So, to us, collaboration, working together is everything.”

ONE Lexington and their partners say they hope the community will come together to tackle this issue to continue moving forward in a better direction.

The first and only murder of the year happened on February 6. Marquis Tompkins was shot on Toner Street. He died at the scene. No arrests have been made in the case.

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