Homicides in Yakima this year half of 2010 total

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima is close to ending 2011 with half the homicides the city had in 2010 and the fewest since 2006.

From January through Thursday, there were six homicides in Yakima, compared with 12 last year, according to statistics kept by the Washington Association of Sheriff's and Police Chiefs.

Acting Police Chief Greg Copeland cautioned against reading too much into the dropoff, noting that murder rates in a mid-size city like Yakima, population 91,630, are bound to fluctuate.

"It's luck of the draw," he said. "Some years you have a heavy year. Some years you have a light year."

Homicides also bear almost no correlation to the city's overall crime rate, including violent crime, which is the lowest it's been since at least the late 1970s and is less than half the peak years of the late 1980s.

The six homicides this year were the fewest since 2006, when the city recorded just three. The year before, in 2005, there were 10.

Countywide, including the city of Yakima, there 17 homicides compared to 24 in 2010.

Of the six homicides last year in the city of Yakima, three were gang-related, according to detectives. An arrest was made in one of those cases, but the other two remain unsolved.

Of the other three slayings, one resulted from a domestic dispute and the other two stemmed from bar fights. One of those fights -- which resulted in the death of teacher's aide Yecenia Guerrero -- bears explaining.

Guerrero, 24, died almost instantly from a single gunshot wound from a bullet that had pierced the door of her car as she pulled into the parking lot of the downtown Taco Bell.

Detectives say the shooting was the culmination of a girlfriend feud between two young men that heated up after a confrontation at a nearby nightclub. Police said Guerrero's car was fired on because it resembled a car belonging to one of the feuding parties. She was not involved with the dispute and authorities have called her death a case of mistaken identity.

Here is a brief summary of the year's homicides.

* March 21 -- A drive-by shooting in the area of North Five Avenue and Willow Street claims the life of 27-year-old Alejandro Baldavinos. Patrick Andrew Bentley, 18, is arrested two days later on charges of first-degree murder and assault. He remains in custody pending trial. Detectives say the motive was gang-related.

* April 18 -- The body of 36-year-old Jason Linder is found on the street near the 1400 block of Fruitvale Boulevard. Police say Linder was fatally stabbed by Matthew David Leonard, 34, after a drunken quarrel at nearby Arty's tavern. Leonard remains in custody pending trial on a charge of second-degree murder.

* June 12 -- Yecenia Guerrero, 24, is fatally shot in the parking lot of the downtown Yakima Taco Bell, the victim of mistaken identity stemming from a confrontation involving several young men at a nearby nightclub.

One suspect, Ivan Bustos Izazaga, 21, is in custody and awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree murder as an accessory. The alleged shooter, Lucio Ramirez, 21, has eluded capture. He is believed to have fled the area, possibly either to the Southwest or Mexico.

* July 1 -- A drive-by shooting at 10th and Walnut streets claims life of 22-year-old Ramon Mejia-Cano. Detectives blame gang violence. No arrests to date.

* August 24 -- Domestic violence is the alleged motive in the death of Felicia Brooks, 39, who was found dead in her Walnut Street apartment. Boyfriend Richard Roberson, 54, is arrested and charged with murder. Detectives say Brooks had been beaten and strangled.

* Oct. 29 -- A recent transplant from California named Raymond Flores is shot to death on Cherry Street. Police say Flores was wearing gang attire and that the motive for the shooting was almost certainly gang related. No arrests to date.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 509-577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisJBristol.

City of Yakima homicides, 2001-11

* 2001 -- 5

* 2002 -- 4

* 2003 -- 5

* 2004 -- 4

* 2005 -- 10

* 2006 -- 3

* 2007 -- 7

* 2008 -- 8

* 2009 -- 9

* 2010 -- 12

* 2011 -- 6

* Source: Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs