Homicides down in Stanislaus County in 2021. But one statistic a ‘concerning’ increase
Countywide in Stanislaus, homicides were down in 2021 but there was a spike in the number of minors accused of committing them.
Homicides in some jurisdictions like Modesto and Turlock were well below both averages and previous year numbers but the statistics involving juvenile offenders are troubling.
Last year five minors, one as young as 13, and two adult teenagers were charged with murder, accounting for 21 percent of the 32 homicides in 2021 . Four other juveniles, ages 15 to 17, were arrested in 2021 on suspicion of murders that were committed on Dec. 21 and Dec. 26 of 2020; however, three of those minors, suspects in the Dec. 21 homicide, were not charged due to lack of evidence.
The nine kids booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of murder in 2021 is as many as the previous five years combined and followed several years in which there were none, according to data provided by Chief Probation Officer Mark Ferriera.
It’s yet to be seen whether the 2021 spike in juvenile homicide suspects is an anomaly but it is part of a trend in an increase in the percentage of juvenile booking for violent crimes.
“We are seeing a drop overall in citation and bookings but of those, and the homicides bear this out, we are seeing much more serious crimes,” Ferriera said.
Since 2016, bookings into juvenile hall have dropped by exactly half, from 890 to 445. But the number of booking for violent crimes like murder, arson, robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault has increased from 62 to 66, accounting for 14.8% of the bookings in 2021 compared to 6.9% in 2016.
Statewide, the number of juveniles arrested for both felony and misdemeanor offenses has decreased every year from 2011 to 2020, according to data from the California Department of Justice. The most common offense, misdemeanors, has had the most significant decline and saw nearly the same numbers as felonies in 2020.
Statewide data for 2021 is not yet available. Ferriera said just speaking anecdotally to Chief Probation Officers in other counties, “I don’t believe we are the only ones seeing an uptick in violent bookings.”
Ferriera said kids booked into juvenile hall usually have one or a combination of three issues: They are involved with gangs or suffering from a mental health or substance abuse disorder.
In the homicide cases involving juvenile suspects, Ferriera said “there seems to be some undertones related to drug sales” but other than that, there is no rhyme or reason to the “concerning” increase.
The crimes occurred in three different cities and all appear at this time to be unrelated. Furthermore, Ferriera said only two of the nine juveniles arrested on suspicion of murder in 2021 were under the supervision of juvenile probation at the time of the offense.
That means the probation department didn’t have an opportunity to track any type of escalation from previous behavioral or intervene with rehabilitative services. It’s possible some of them had just been referred to probation for a different offense or had previously been on probation, but the numbers suggest that for some, if not most of the juveniles, murder was the first crime they’re accused of committing.
“I wish that I could say there’s a pattern and this is the strategy we are taking (to address it) but I can’t, Ferriera said.
The youngest murder suspect was just 13 when he allegedly walked up to a taco truck in Modesto’s airport neighborhood, pointed a gun at the 67-year-old owner inside, and shot him in the head.
His trial is ongoing in juvenile court. If convicted, he could only be committed to juvenile hall and only up to the age of 25. Because of his age, he cannot be prosecuted as an adult but 16- and 17-year-old offenders can, and face much longer sentences in state prison.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office sought transfers to adult court for the other four juveniles charged with murder in 2021; one of them has already been transferred, meaning a judge determined it was appropriate that he be tried as an adult.
Those juveniles include a 16-year-old Modesto boy and a 17-year-old Patterson boy.
The 16-year-old and two adults allegedly shot into a vehicle the day after Christmas 2020, killing a 14-year-old girl and injuring two other teens.
In the Patterson case, a 17-year-old along with an adult, are accused of fatally stabbing a 17-year-old boy near a park.
The other three minors, all 17, were charged with three of Ceres’ four homicides in 2021, the most homicides the city has seen in a single year in more than a decade.
Ceres Detective Sergeant Trenton Johnson said getting an understanding of this violent trend has also been made difficult by a new law regarding juveniles that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
“On these homicides they are juveniles so we can’t ask them any questions,” he said. “We have to build a case without any statement from the suspect.”
State Senate Bill 203 amended an existing law to require that any juvenile suspect in police custody consult with an attorney before giving a statement to investigators. Prior to the amendment, the law applied only to juveniles 15 and under.
“There is no attorney out there that is going to tell them to give a statement,” Johnson said.
Even without statements, Ceres detectives have evidence that at least two of the homicides are drug related. Johnson believes drug use is at least one contributing factor of the recent increase in violence among youths.
A 17-year-old is accused of murder and robbery in an apparent drug rip off in January 2021. An 18-year-old died and another person was injured when a vehicle pulled up alongside the vehicle they were parked in and the suspect opened fire.
The other, in which a 17-year-old is accused of fatally shooting a 22-year-old in November, is also drug related but the specifics are “more convoluted,” Johnson said.
The motive has not been determined for the third minor-involved homicide in Ceres in which a 26-year-old man was found in his vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.
One thing is for sure: juveniles seem to have ample access to firearms. Most of the homicides with juvenile suspects were committed with guns and gun related offenses among juveniles are also up.
Bookings related to firearms — use, possession or theft of a firearm — accounting for 13.5% of all bookings, compared to 10.5% in 2020 and a low of 4.8% in 2016.
A knife was used in one of the homicides and at least two attempted homicides. A Turlock High student is accused of stabbing another student on campus and another teen was charged with a hate crime for allegedly telling a homeless man to leave a park based on his ethnicity before stabbing him.
Both those cases occurred in November in Turlock, although the city had no homicides in 2021 compared to six the year before.
And overall in Stanislaus County, homicides were down.
Modesto had just 12, a low it hasn’t seen since 2014 and in contrast to the years in between when there was an annual average of 20.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department was right at its 10-year average for homicides. The department investigated 15 homicides in unincorporated areas and its contract cities, including one in Hughson and two in Patterson.
In addition to the trend with juvenile offenders, there was a notable number of self-defense homicides in 2021.
Within three days of each other homeowners in rural Stanislaus County shot and killed people who had broken into their homes.
The family of Tyler Parks, a man shot on July 1 in Empire said the alleged shooter, who has a long criminal record, is claiming self-defense. The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office has not commented either way but the alleged shooter was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and destroying or concealing evidence in connection with the case.
One of the homicides is also an officer involved shooting by a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputy that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old boy following a pursuit. The case remains under review by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published January 18, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
