A demographic breakdown of homicide victims reveals that the vast majority of people murdered in Dallas this year have been people of color.
There have been 54 murders committed in Dallas so far, 10 more than in the same period in 2022, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
City data shows that black people made up the most significant share of this year’s murder victims, representing 48.1% of those violently stricken down within the city limits, and Hispanic or Latino people made up 42.6% of victims. Combined, these 49 lives lost to crime account for more than 90% of all murder victims.
The remaining five murder victims, broken down by race per City data, were three white people, one person of Middle Eastern descent, and an individual logged by police as “Unknown.”
The median age for murder victims in Dallas is currently around 30 years old, with the youngest victim being the 11-year-old boy gunned down in Gay Donnell Willis’ district last weekend, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
The statistics on the racial breakdown were shared with the local activist group Dallas Justice Now (DJN). Spokesperson Micah Mitchell said in an emailed statement to The Dallas Express:
“Trust that here at DJN we are all horrified at this ghastly statistic because for each murder, that means someone’s family is deprived of a member of the family institution. That also means a household is deprived of a wage earner… and someone who sets an example for their household … and far too many of these victims for more than one child … all but forcing the family into a dependent relationship with the government.”
He went on to state, “We all need safe streets, not just in the affluent areas of Dallas … and it is time to ask if we are doing everything to safeguard the lives of the innocents who are risking their lives just by living with felons who can’t seem to help themselves.”
City Councilmember Tennell Atkin’s District 8 had the most murders year-to-date with nine, followed by Omar Narvaez’s District 6 with eight, and then Adam Bazaldua’s District 7 with seven. Every single one of the people murdered in these districts was either black or Latino.
Atkins also had the most murders committed in his district year-to-date at the time of The Dallas Express’ previous review of the City’s murder victim demographic data in early February.
The Dallas Express reached out to Atkins’ office and asked what he and his colleagues on the city council are doing to halt these alarming trends but did not hear back by press time.