By Karen Frantz
The number of murders in the 107th Precinct fell slightly in 2012 from the year before, following a citywide trend of declining murder rates, NYPD crime statistics showed.
Only two murders took place in the precinct, which covers Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hills, Briarwood and parts of Kew Gardens Hills, in 2012, according to NYPD figures. That was down from three homicides that took place in 2011.
One of last year’s victims included a 2-year-old boy, Izayah Hall, who Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said was strangled to death allegedly by his 29-year-old mother, Afriyie Gaspard, in August.
According to Brown, Hall was kicking, screaming and crying in their Fresh Meadows home when Gaspard is accused of putting her hands around his throat and squeezing for a minute until he stopped. She put him roughly into bed as he was making gurgling sounds, and when she checked on the child 45 minutes later, she found him unresponsive, the DA said.
Gaspard was charged with manslaughter after Hall’s autopsy results determined the toddler’s death was a homicide, police said. Her family maintained she never would have intentionally hurt her child.
A spokeswoman for the DA’s office said Gaspard’s case is still pending and the next court date is scheduled for Feb. 25.
The number of rapes was also down slightly in the 107th in 2012 from 2011, with 10 reported last year and 13 the year before.
But other violent crimes were up slightly last year. There were four more robberies in the precinct, at 243 last year than there were in 2011, and there were 127 felony assaults in 2012, up two from the year before.
Property crime numbers experienced a more marked difference between 2012 and 2011, but complaints rose in some categories while falling in others.
There was a jump in the number of grand larcenies, with 461 cases in 2012, up from 435 in 2011, but burglaries and grand larceny autos fell in 2012 from 2011. There were 258 burglary complaints in 2012, down from 269 the year before, and 173 grand larceny auto complaints were filed last year, down from 214 in 2011.
Reach reporter Karen Frantz by e-mail at kfrantz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
