ATLANTA – Atlanta reached a grim milestone Friday night as a double shooting marked 100 homicides authorities have investigated in 2021.
Two victims, a brother and sister, were found shot to death inside a car in southwest Atlanta late Friday, authorities said. They were identified Saturday morning as 25-year-old Robert Bankston Jr. and 35-year-old Cedrika Smith.
One man was detained for questioning at the scene, but it’s unclear if he faces any charges in the siblings’ deaths.
In 2020, the Atlanta Police Department investigated 157 homicides, up from 99 in 2019 and the most in more than two decades. By June of this year, APD reported nearly a 60 percent increase in homicide cases. That pace has slowed, but the 2021 homicide count is ahead of last year when the 100th homicide was recorded on Oct. 1, 2020, police crime data shows.
Violent crime remains a priority for Atlanta leaders and the police department, and new initiatives are in place to tackle the problem. As the political races for both mayor and city council seats heat up, violence has also become a part of campaigns.
In June, APD Chief Rodney Bryant announced a summer plan to fight crime which included targeting the hardest-hit areas, addressing gun violence and gangs, and increasing officers’ presence.
“We’ve seen an uptick in crime throughout Atlanta and I want to reassure the citizens of Atlanta that we will be vigilant,” Bryant said. “We want to be able to put more police officers out on the street. So we’re adjusting our administrative personnel as well, where they will be deployed out into areas to supplement the day-to-day patrols that you are seeing.”
Days later, an increased police presence in the Lenox Square area helped officers quickly locate two teenagers of shooting and critically injuring a security guard, an APD commander said. The department has also used social media to remind citizens that misunderstandings can be resolved without gunfire or other violence.
Late last week, APD announced more restructuring plans, including adding a mini-precinct in Zone 2, which includes Buckhead, to focus on traffic calls. The move will free up other officers to focus on higher-priority calls and investigations, the department said.
In July, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced her plans to create an office tasked with reducing crime. Bottoms in March announced other plans, which include the hiring of 250 more police officers; expansions to the city’s camera network and license plate reader systems; and the addition of 10,000 more streetlights in the city by Dec. 31, 2022.
Bottoms has blamed the increase in crime on the coronavirus pandemic, stating that Atlanta isn’t the only city where violence has surged.
“Because our state was open, and there were many people coming into our city, we were starting to see an uptick in crime before many other major cities, and unfortunately what we saw was just not something happening in Atlanta,” Bottoms said last month.
In a statement released Saturday morning, Gov. Brian Kemp said it’s clear Atlanta is facing what he called a public safety crisis.
“It is also evident that more street lights, an office of violence prevention, shelving plans for a police and fire training center, and more committees to study crime aren’t the answers,” Kemp said. “The mayor and City Hall need to empower and support APD – not make officers wary of being fired or publicly vilified for doing their jobs. These brave men and women deserve to know that elected leadership has their back.”
The governor also said his office would do “everything in our power” to bolster state law enforcement efforts to partner with APD and other police departments to reduce violent crime in metro Atlanta.
Last week, the mayor’s office released a database that tracks uses of force by Atlanta officers. The public dashboard displays information about at least 47,000 arrests and 501 use of force reports involving some of the city’s 1,600-plus officers. Up to 335 officers have been involved in use-of-force cases since 2019.
Investigators have made arrests or issued warrants in nearly 60 of the 2021 cases, according to police department data. To protect investigations, the department does not always confirm when a suspect has been identified but has not yet been arrested.
Some of this year’s arrests have included high-profile cases, including in the July 2020 death of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner and the Aug. 13 death of bartender Mariam Abdulrab.
Earlier this month a second suspect was charged with murder in Secoriea’s death, more than a year after she was shot and killed at a makeshift roadblock in southwest Atlanta. Jerrion McKinney, 23, was arrested by the GBI. McKinney and another suspect, Julian Conley, have been indicted in the child’s death, the Fulton County District Attorney recently announced.
Abdulrab, 27, was reported kidnapped early on Aug. 13 as she returned to her southeast Atlanta home after work. Four hours later, her body was found and she had been shot multiple times, according to police. A suspect, DeMarcus Brinkley, was taken into custody the same day after he crashed his SUV in Spalding County while officers attempted to stop him.
Other cases remain unsolved, including the death of 40-year-old Katherine “Katie” Janness, found stabbed to death in Piedmont Park in late July. The FBI is assisting Atlanta police in the investigation, but no suspects have been publicly identified.
The family of Mayco Rodrigue is among the grieving loved ones eager for answers. In May, Rodrique was shot as he rode in a friend’s car on Ga. 400, according to Atlanta police. The father of six and grandfather of two died from his injuries when a bullet entered his back and struck his heart, his family said.
“It was a complete shock,” said Kanika Rodrique, his wife of 16 years, days after his death. “He was enjoying life and someone stole that from him. And I’m really upset and angry.”
Among the 2021 homicide cases are at least seven cases where a person traveling inside a car was shot and killed. Roadway shootings have killed 15 people this year in metro Atlanta and surrounding counties, and a majority of the cases remain unsolved.
“I’m really looking for justice for him,” Kanika Rodrique said.
Anyone with information on any homicide cases can submit a tip anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-8477, online at www.crimestoppersatlanta.org or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637). Tipsters do not have to give their name or any identifying information to be eligible for a reward.
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