The victim of one of Boston's latest homicides was 20-year-old Niko Nunez, a father of a 7-month-old baby boy.
According to a relative, Niko wasn't involved in gangs; instead, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Boston Herald gets credit for a recent series taking a fresh look at the city's homicide problem. Last week, Herald reporters brought some alarming statistics to the attention of Mayor Marty Walsh:
- More than half of the city's 628 homicides over a 10-year span remain unsolved
- Black males were 10 times more likely to be murdered than white males
- Killers of black males were caught at a 38 percent rate compared with a 79 percent rate for whites
Minister Mary Franklin's husband Melvin was killed 18 years ago in Dorchester when he tried to intervene in a robbery.
"I think that the Boston Police Department needs to do more, even after 18 years ago, where have we gotten since today? Melvin's case is still unsolved. We have no information, we know nothing," she said.
Danielle Cunningham, who is part of Women Survivors of Homicide with Franklin, is also vocal on this front. Her best friend, 27-year-old Ronald Dujour, was shot and killed in 2006 in Roxbury. His murder is also unsolved.
Politics
"All I can say is there is not enough attention brought to inner city unsolved crimes. I do believe there needs to be more leads after the fact, and the fact that we might not have ... I hate to say it, but there might not be that kind of motive or motivation to get resolution," she said.
