Fayetteville homicides up 30% compared to last year, police say

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Fayetteville Police say 21-year-old Nicoda Melvin was shot in the head on Southern Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

"There were other people inside of the residence when it occurred," said Fayetteville Police Sgt. Jeremy Glass. "So officers, when they responded, they were able to locate the female quickly and attempted medical help."

Melvin was taken to the hospital but did not survive.

"She was loving and kind," her cousin Shana Baker said. "She never would hurt nobody, never would harm nobody. I love her and I'm gonna miss her."

The Fayetteville Police Department said homicides are up this year about 30% compared to last year.

There have been 31 homicides as of today, according to the department. All except one have been firearm-related.

There were 22 homicides about the same time last year through September 30th.

"It's very bad when your homicide unit is working an extreme amount of hours getting a lot of overtime," Sgt. Glass said. "It's sad, especially with it being these young people, 16 to 21 years old. We shouldn't be investigating things like that."

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 32,000 gun violence deaths this year nationally.

Robert Britt grew up in the neighborhood and still lives there. He said crime is going up.

"In the last two months, it's a weekly thing," Britt said. "That's all we've had every time you come out, there's police cars the whole block so you don't know where you're going, who's getting shot."

Melvin's cousin is still trying to comprehend how her cousin died.

"She was too young," Baker said. "She didn't deserve this."

Sgt. Glass said Operation Ceasefire is a program dedicated to getting young people involved and aimed at stopping gun violence in the county.

Anybody with information about the homicide is asked to contact Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS.

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