NATCHEZ — The Miss-Lou murder and manslaughter rate has dropped by three murders this year compared to the previous two years.

Adams County and Concordia Parish have had a combined total of five murders so far this year, down from eight each in 2007 and 2008.

But drawing any further conclusions about the rate of violent crime is just hard to do, local law enforcement officials said.

The total number of murders for the area breaks out differently per agency each year.

For example, the City of Vidalia had no murders from 2000 to 2007; 2008 and 2009 have brought one murder each.

But other areas of the parish have seen a drop in the number of murders this year.

In the last nine years, Ferriday has seen 10 murders, but there have been none so far this year.

And six of those 10 murders were committed in a two-year period, 2007-2008. Three of the 2007 murders were the victims of Connor Wood, who was convicted of killing his parents and a friend.

In 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated one murder each year. In 2007, the sheriff’s office investigated the Wood triple-murder, which happened in Ferriday’s municipal limits, but had no other murders in the parish.

In 2008, the CPSO investigated two murders.

This year, there have been no murders in the parish jurisdiction.

In the City of Natchez has had 18 murders since 2000, with the highest per year — three — in 2007 and this year.

In Adams County, since 2000, there have been 16 murders or manslaughters, one of those this year.

The highest number in the ACSO jurisdiction in a single year since 2000 is three murders, which occurred in 2002, 2003 and 2006.

Adams County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Ricky Stevens said it’s normal for one year to see three murders and the next to see none.

“That’s just crime — it’s up, and it’s down,” he said. “I don’t think that even the experts can give you a reason to why it does what it does.”

But one thing does consistently ring true when looking at the Miss-Lou murder rate, officials said — typically violent crime is either domestic in nature or drug related. And most often, the victim knows his assailant.

Victims in five of the six murders this year knew their reported assailants well.

The first homicide of the year in Natchez occurred Aug. 20, when the body of Terry Lynn Farmer was discovered at her Shadow Lane residence. Officers patrolling the area smelled smoke and followed it to Farmer’s house.

After the fire was extinguished, police confirmed Farmer had been murdered and the fire was set to conceal evidence. Farmer suffered a single bullet wound to the head and blunt trauma to the head. Police also determined Farmer had been raped.

Less than a month later, police arrested Willie Duck in connection to Farmer’s murder, and charged him with accessory after the fact to rape, accessory after the fact to murder and accessory after the fact to arson.

Duck reportedly told investigators he knew Farmer because he had worked at her house before, and later reportedly gave conflicting statements about what he knew.

Duck is being held without bond the Adams County Jail. Though Duck has been charged, investigators are still actively pursuing other suspects.

In September, Natchez police found the bodies Marquis Terrell and longtime girlfriend Renata Washington at Holiday Apartments on Old Washington Road.

Terrell shot Washington in the head Sept. 10, and then turned the gun on himself.

The city’s most recent homicide occurred Sept. 25, when 16-year-old Jamon Williams allegedly struck John “Body Man” Henderson in the 500 block of Madison Street. Williams, who was initially charged with murder, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter last month.

The lone murder in the jurisdiction of the ACSO this year was the brutal beating and murder of Clark Felton Jr. on Aug. 12 at his residence on LaGrange Road.

Currently, two arrests have been made concerning the murder —Lizzie Madison, 39, and Paul M. Green, 38.

In Vidalia this year, Myrtle Street resident Mike Welch was found dead in his residence with his throat slit.

Welch’s body was discovered Oct. 4, and the suspect in the case, Michael Kelly Stevens, 41, was arrested Oct. 13 in Channelview, Texas, where he allegedly fled in the victim’s pickup truck.

A 10-person Concordia Parish grand jury indicted Kelly on charges of first-degree murder — a conviction for which could result in either life in prison or the death penalty —  in late November.

He has not yet been arraigned in the matter, and is being detained on a $2 million bond.

No single local jurisdiction has seen more than three murders per year in the last 10 years. And that’s pretty normal, Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said.

“It’s always from zero to three,” Mullins said of the murder count. “That’s the norm.

“We’re a smaller town without an interstate highway, and that helps with our low (murder) rate.”

Solid law enforcement can help reduce the number of murders too, Assistant Ferriday Police Chief Johnny Evans said. He attributes the significant drop in murders in Ferriday to good police work.

“The police patrol the streets, we get to calls on time before they get big,” he said. “We have been trying to beef up patrols, and we try to stay on top of the drug crime, so I think that (explains the drop).”By Emily Ham, Vershal Hogan

& Cassandra Mickens

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — The Miss-Lou murder and manslaughter rate has dropped by three murders this year compared to the previous two years.

Adams County and Concordia Parish have had a combined total of five murders so far this year, down from eight each in 2007 and 2008.

But drawing any further conclusions about the rate of violent crime is just hard to do, local law enforcement officials said.

The total number of murders for the area breaks out differently per agency each year.

For example, the City of Vidalia had no murders from 2000 to 2007; 2008 and 2009 have brought one murder each.

But other areas of the parish have seen a drop in the number of murders this year.

In the last nine years, Ferriday has seen 10 murders, but there have been none so far this year.

And six of those 10 murders were committed in a two-year period, 2007-2008. Three of the 2007 murders were the victims of Connor Wood, who was convicted of killing his parents and a friend.

In 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated one murder each year. In 2007, the sheriff’s office investigated the Wood triple-murder, which happened in Ferriday’s municipal limits, but had no other murders in the parish.

In 2008, the CPSO investigated two murders.

This year, there have been no murders in the parish jurisdiction.

In the City of Natchez has had 18 murders since 2000, with the highest per year — three — in 2007 and this year.

In Adams County, since 2000, there have been 16 murders or manslaughters, one of those this year.

The highest number in the ACSO jurisdiction in a single year since 2000 is three murders, which occurred in 2002, 2003 and 2006.

Adams County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Ricky Stevens said it’s normal for one year to see three murders and the next to see none.

“That’s just crime — it’s up, and it’s down,” he said. “I don’t think that even the experts can give you a reason to why it does what it does.”

But one thing does consistently ring true when looking at the Miss-Lou murder rate, officials said — typically violent crime is either domestic in nature or drug related. And most often, the victim knows his assailant.

Victims in five of the six murders this year knew their reported assailants well.

The first homicide of the year in Natchez occurred Aug. 20, when the body of Terry Lynn Farmer was discovered at her Shadow Lane residence. Officers patrolling the area smelled smoke and followed it to Farmer’s house.

After the fire was extinguished, police confirmed Farmer had been murdered and the fire was set to conceal evidence. Farmer suffered a single bullet wound to the head and blunt trauma to the head. Police also determined Farmer had been raped.

Less than a month later, police arrested Willie Duck in connection to Farmer’s murder, and charged him with accessory after the fact to rape, accessory after the fact to murder and accessory after the fact to arson.

Duck reportedly told investigators he knew Farmer because he had worked at her house before, and later reportedly gave conflicting statements about what he knew.

Duck is being held without bond the Adams County Jail. Though Duck has been charged, investigators are still actively pursuing other suspects.

In September, Natchez police found the bodies Marquis Terrell and longtime girlfriend Renata Washington at Holiday Apartments on Old Washington Road.

Terrell shot Washington in the head Sept. 10, and then turned the gun on himself.

The city’s most recent homicide occurred Sept. 25, when 16-year-old Jamon Williams allegedly struck John “Body Man” Henderson in the 500 block of Madison Street. Williams, who was initially charged with murder, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter last month.

The lone murder in the jurisdiction of the ACSO this year was the brutal beating and murder of Clark Felton Jr. on Aug. 12 at his residence on LaGrange Road.

Currently, two arrests have been made concerning the murder —Lizzie Madison, 39, and Paul M. Green, 38.

In Vidalia this year, Myrtle Street resident Mike Welch was found dead in his residence with his throat slit.

Welch’s body was discovered Oct. 4, and the suspect in the case, Michael Kelly Stevens, 41, was arrested Oct. 13 in Channelview, Texas, where he allegedly fled in the victim’s pickup truck.

A 10-person Concordia Parish grand jury indicted Kelly on charges of first-degree murder — a conviction for which could result in either life in prison or the death penalty —  in late November.

He has not yet been arraigned in the matter, and is being detained on a $2 million bond.

No single local jurisdiction has seen more than three murders per year in the last 10 years. And that’s pretty normal, Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said.

“It’s always from zero to three,” Mullins said of the murder count. “That’s the norm.

“We’re a smaller town without an interstate highway, and that helps with our low (murder) rate.”

Solid law enforcement can help reduce the number of murders too, Assistant Ferriday Police Chief Johnny Evans said. He attributes the significant drop in murders in Ferriday to good police work.

“The police patrol the streets, we get to calls on time before they get big,” he said. “We have been trying to beef up patrols, and we try to stay on top of the drug crime, so I think that (explains the drop).”