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Year In Review Of Austin Crime


2012 will end as more violent and deadly on Austin's streets compared to last year.

46 people in vehicles, three on bikes and 28 on foot. A total of 77 people killed on Austin's roadways this year. That's more than a 50 percent increase from just one year ago.

But it's not the only crime stat rising in Austin.

2012 started with the murder of Esmerelda Barrera. The teaching assistant was strangled on New Year's Day.
Since then 30 more people were murdered on Austin's streets. That's up from 27 in 2011.

"There is a slight increase from 2011 and in 2013. We're going to do everything we can to get that number as low as possible," says Austin police spokesperson Officer Antony Hipolito.

In Austin's south-central and central-east areas the murder rate jumped significantly -- from just five murders in 2011 to 11 this year.

In that area, robberies of businesses are also up 45 percent.

At Bureau Lifestyle on East 5th Street Ryan Keeling says the crime hasn't found its way to his store. "Our two guys who work here are named Bear and Rock, we both weigh 280 or up, I think we're ok," he says. "I think we're close enough to 35 and to downtown that I'm not really concerned about it."

But downtown gets mixed reviews. Robberies of business are down 34 percent. But the murder rate spiked from just two murders in 2011 to seven this year.

For a year that started with murder, it ended with some closure. Just this month APD closed Esmerelda Barrera's case, confident her killer was James Brown Jr.

That is one bright spot in the numbers -- detectives have solved all but four of this year's homicides.

By Karen Kiley