WORCESTER—After New England’s second largest city saw only one homicide for the first nine months of 2023, the homicide rate in Worcester ticked up to six total for the year with five homicides occurring in the last two months.
Worcester Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier said his department is concerned about the recent increase in violence, as violence prevention is its top priority.
“The majority of the recent incidents have not been random,” Saucier said in a statement to the Worcester Guardian. “They have been isolated incidents that have occurred between people who knew each other. We are working with our state and federal partners to prevent violence and make sure that Worcester remains a safe city.”
The homicide rate in the city is still lower than the past four years. In 2022, there were 12 homicides in the city, which included four people killed in the 2 Gage St. fire that is being treated as arson. In 2021 there were eight homicides, in 2020 there were nine homicides and in 2019 there were 13.
In 2018, the city saw less than this year, with a total of five. But the years prior to 2018, the homicide rate was either more or equal to the rate so far this year in Worcester. In 2017, there were six homicides, seven in 2016, and eight in 2015.
There has always been a random element to the number of homicides per month, according to Worcester Police Department spokesperson Lt. Sean Murtha, and he said there has been no consistent spike in homicides at the end of the year.
Springfield, the fourth largest city in New England, has seen a record-breaking 29 homicides this year, according to information Western Mass News reported on Nov. 16 and Nov. 27.
As of Nov. 26, Boston, New England’s largest city, has had 34 homicides this year, down from 37 last year and lower than the five-year yearly average of 46, according to Boston Police Department data.
Providence, Rhode Island, the third largest city in New England, had 13 homicides between Jan. 1 and Nov. 26, according to Providence Police Department data. The number marks an increase over last year when the Ocean State’s capital had seven homicides.
In 2023, Worcester’s first homicide of the year was the result of an April 9 shooting on Dorchester Street. A 24 year-old Worcester resident was shot and later died from his injuries at the hospital on April 20, according to the Worcester Police Department.
The yearly homicide rate started to increase on Oct. 28 after a fatal shooting at Worcester State University left 19 year-old Randy Armando Melendez Jr. of Southbridge dead and a man with gunshot wounds who was dropped off at a local hospital was later pronounced dead.
In November, there have been three homicides. On Nov. 5, there was a fatal shooting on Grand Street. When officers arrived at the scene they found a 29-year-old man lying in front of a building, he was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
On Nov. 10, a 23-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the Great Brook Valley area, according to Worcester police, who said the incident appeared to be the result of domestic violence and as a result would not be sharing more information.
The most recent homicide occurred on Thanksgiving. Around 2 a.m. a man went to Angie’s Bodywork Spa on Pleasant Street and shot a woman in the head, according to court documents. First responders were sent to the scene around 11:30 a.m. after receiving a report of a woman experiencing a medical issue and Worcester EMS pronounced the woman dead.
Marcel Santos-Padgett, 31, of Leicester has been charged with armed assault with intent to kill in connection to the death and is being held without bail until a hearing Dec. 13.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford and Antigua and Barbuda. She’s been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org
