300% rise in juveniles charged in homicides in this North Carolina city

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police released its midyear crime stats on Monday.

Overall crime, calls for service, arrests, and overall interactions are all up. Most troubling is violent crimes, which are up 8% year-over-year. CMPD cited that one of the reasons for this is Charlotte being ‘one of the most rapidly growing cities in the nation.”

The 8% increase includes a disturbing 36% increase in homicides and an 8% increase in assaults with a deadly weapon. CMPD said 12 juveniles so far this year have been charged with homicides. Separately, 7 juveniles have been victims of homicides in 2024, up from four from last year, CMPD said on Monday.

There were only three juveniles charged in his homicides in all of 2023 — meaning there has been a 300% rise.

Auto thefts mainly involving Hyundai and Kia thefts continue to be a major issue that plagues the city. CMPD said 74 percent of the auto theft arrests involve a juvenile.

CMPD said 61% of juvenile arrests this year are of repeat offenders.

“A lack of space to house juveniles should not be an excuse for allowing repeat offenders to rack up dozens or even hundreds of charges by the time they’re 17 years old,” CMPD said. “The number of repeat juvenile offenders has pointed to an undeniable need for more accountability post-arrest and to house juvenile offenders in a detention facility locally.”

CMPD referenced one teenager who was arrested, 17-year-old Anthony Celis, who is facing 48 charges in 27 separate criminal cases. They also cited a 13-year-old who has been linked to four separate crimes and is out on electronic monitoring. CMPD also used an example of two juveniles who escaped from the Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center in Cabarrus County, stole a car, drove around in the car while in shackles, and live-streamed the entire ordeal on social media before being caught.

The first half of the year did not come without severe pain for the department. Four law enforcement officers were killed when a US Marshals Task Force attempted to serve a warrant on a suspect at an east Charlotte home. One of those killed was a CMPD officer who was responding to the scene to assist.

2024 CMPD MIDYEAR CRIME STATS

• Violent crimes: 3,693 offenses in 2024 compared to 3,419 offenses in 2023.
• Homicides: 61 in 2024 compared to 45 in 2023.
• Aggravated Assaults: 2,844 in 2024 compared to 2,620 in 2023.
• Rapes: 121 in 2024 compared to 124 in 2023.
• Armed robberies: 413 in 2024 compared to 429 in 2023.
• Property crimes: 18,092 offenses in 2024 compared to 18,085 in 2023.
• Residential burglaries: 858 in 2024 compared to 950 in 2023.
• Commercial burglaries: 1,181 in 2024 compared to 845 in 2023.
• Larcenies from automobiles: 4,887 in 2024 compared to 5,373 in 2023.
• Vehicle thefts: 4,011 in 2024 compared to 3,731 in 2023.
• Arsons: 81 in 2024 compared to 56 in 2023.

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