By Rich Bockmann
South Jamaica’s 113th Precinct recorded 16 murders in 2012, according to the Police Department’s preliminary figures, and while that number is one less than the previous year’s total, it still made the 113th the precinct with the greatest number of homicides in Queens.
Overall, there were four fewer major-index crimes last year than there were in 2011, according to the early statistics.
The year’s first murder came in early February, when 29-year-old Clinton Forde was allegedly stabbed to death by his own brother inside his South Jamaica home, police said.
Just a few days later, 20-year-old Cody Kahn, the youngest of five siblings, was shot and killed early in the morning on the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and 123rd Avenue.
On March 15, 24-year-old Maurice Johnson was shot and killed outside a building in Rochdale Village. The August Martin High School grad had just stepped out from his home nearby to get a snack, his family said.
A few weeks later Theodore Thomas, 26, was shot multiple times in the chest outside the Unforgettable Lounge on Sutphin Boulevard. Thomas’ mother said her son had left Queens to get away from the violence and was living in Pennsylvania with his girlfriend.
Thomas had been back home only a few days for a brief visit before he was killed.
Kareem Brandy, 30, was found dead in April in his second-story apartment in South Jamaica with a gunshot wound in his head.
Brandy had previously lived in upstate New York, and a TimesLedger Newspapers online story about his death drew comments from friends in the region.
On April 11, 22-year-old Sydney Londo was found dead inside his 2011 Dodge Charger in South Jamaica. The car had crashed into an SUV and Londo had a gunshot wound in his torso.
Four days later, mother Roxanne Lambert, 41, was shot and killed by her boyfriend, who then turned the gun on himself. Everol Ellington’s death was ruled a suicide and does not count toward the precinct’s homicide total.
On May 10, Ariel Edwards was shot in the head near Addisleigh Park. A witness said Edwards had sought help from his next door neighbor before succumbing to his injury.
About a week later, 24-year-old Shakey Foster-Bey was found dead on Galway Avenue with gunshot wounds in his arm, leg and torso.
Valley Stream, L.I., resident and LaGuardia Community College student Euton Christian, 22, was shot and killed on 111th Avenue in June.
On July 7, three men were gunned down with an AK-47 near Springfield Gardens High School. James Bussereth, 33, of Queens, and Jason Wood, 27, and Odane Linton, 29, of Brooklyn, were killed in a hail of 50 bullets.
Toward the tend of the month Tavoy Walters, 18, was shot in front of his home in St. Albans. Walters’ mother said she tried to drive her son to the hospital but the police arrived and made her wait for an ambulance. The teenager was pronounced dead at North Shore University Hospital.
The precinct’s last murder came Sept. 5, when Jeffrey Perkins, 46, was allegedly stabbed to death by his girlfriend in the South Jamaica home they shared.
Anna Adams was arrested and charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD.
One of the 2012 murders was reclassified from a previous crime. The NYPD was expecting to have its final figures ready by the end of the month.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
