Louisville homicides decrease in 2024, but child fatalities on the rise

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- While Louisville has experienced a decrease in overall homicides this year compared to last, there has been an increase in the number of children fatally shot.

May was the deadliest month of this year. And now, with the new year just days away, the community hopes to end the year with a lower homicide count than last.

Louisville has experienced hundreds of shootings this year.

"We know the backstory on almost every one of them," Eddie Woods, the founder and CEO of No More Red Dots, said.

So far, 139 shootings have been fatal. That includes 18 children, five more than last year.

"If we don't figure out a way to get on the front end, we're going to keep counting," Woods said.

For the last three decades, Eddie Woods' nonprofit No More Red Dots has been doing its part in preventing violence by offering guidance to at-risk youth.

His team hosts domestic violence classes and is now paying more attention to food insecurity.

"We've had several times where we've had folks who called us and were about to do some crazy stuff just because they wanted to eat. We had kids and stuff like that," Woods said.

A triple-digit homicide count has followed Louisville each year since the pandemic, with most taking place in west Louisville.

"The number, proliferation of guns in our communities, attitudes, kind of a loss of hope in a lot of different areas, are contributors of the problem," Woods said.

Certain areas are now experiencing more incident involving younger victims.

Louisville had two more homicide victims under the age of 10, this year compared to 2023.

"It's just unfortunate that a lot of them are happening in the West End," Woods said. "We're not concentrating on things like gun locks and safe storage for weapons and those kinds of things."

Woods remembers a time, 14 years ago, when Louisville only had 54 homicides. He wishes to break the cycle of violence.

"We're just not doing it enough. We're not doing it together," Woods said.

Louisville saw a significant increase in homicide victims aged 25 to 34 this year compared to last.

"They don't even understand that they need help, much less, that there's anybody out there trying to help them," Woods said.

But these numbers do not include the incorporated areas of Jefferson County. It only covers Louisville Metro.

No More Red Dots received a $100,000 grant to end violence in October. To find out more about No More Red Dots, click here.

For more Metro Louisville Crime Dashboard data, click here.

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