Homicide numbers drop sharply in Fort Worth, Dallas

Homicide statistics

City

2011

2010

2009

Arlington

22

16

12

Dallas

133

148

166

Fort Worth

51

64

46

Grand Prairie

7

4

11

Grapevine

6

2

0

Haltom City

0

5

1

Irving

8

6

4

Mansfield

1

0

3

North Richland Hills

2

1

0

By Mitch Mitchell

mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

Although homicide totals dropped in Fort Worth and Dallas from 2010 to 2011, a rash of domestic-related shootings drove up totals in a number of North Texas cities, including Arlington, Grand Prairie and Grapevine.

In Fort Worth, the number of homicides decreased from 64 to 51 -- a drop of more than 20 percent, according to a Star-Telegram analysis. In Dallas, the decrease was 10 percent.Of the 51 people killed in Fort Worth, 42 were men. Thirty-six of the people killed were shot to death."The numbers are more in line with what they have been during the past 10 years," said Sgt. Cheryl Johnson, supervisor for Fort Worth's homicide unit. "The motives are spread fairly evenly across the board."In Arlington, where homicide totals increased from 19 to 22, six of the murders were domestic-related, including a shooting in the 3500 block of Wakefield Circle that left Tana Todd, Sheryl Bennett and Jose Reyes dead, and Todd's husband, Johnny Todd, wounded.Dalton Bennett, Sheryl Bennett's estranged husband, was later arrested in the garage of his home in the 1100 block of Georgetown Street, about a half-mile from the shooting scene.Two other domestic-related shootings in Grand Prairie and Grapevine left 13 people dead.On Christmas Day in Grapevine, after family members gathered around the tree at Fatemeh Rahmati's apartment to open their Christmas presents, Rahmati's estranged husband, Azizolah Yazdanpanah, killed her and five of her relatives shortly before killing himself.Police in Grapevine say there is little they can do to stop that type of crime from happening."We really don't have areas in our city where one area is more prone to violent crime than another," said Sgt. Robert Eberling, Grapevine police spokesman.The other multiple-victim homicide happened at a Grand Prairie skating rink earlier in the year.During his son's birthday party July 23, Tan Do's mother-in-law announced that she was leaving for home.Shortly after that announcement, Tan Do went on a shooting rampage, and did not stop until he killed his estranged wife and four of her relatives.Tan Do then killed himself, accord! ing to p olice."Unless you have a serial killer, this is not a real crime trend," said Det. John Brimmer, Grand Prairie police spokesman. "It's real hard to prevent domestic crime."Staff writer Domingo Ramirez contributed to this report.Mitch Mitchell, 817-390-7752Twitter: @stcrime

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