Barbados Murder Statistics January to December 2022

Suspects in Lamar Johnson shooting, December 23 2022
Suspects in the fatal shooting of Lamar Johnson, December 21, 2022 (Source: Internet)

There have been at least 42 murders in Barbados between January and December 2022 (up from 39 last month). My analysis is based solely on media reporting (media outlets have the murder count at 43). The steps involved in the following analysis are similar to my 2020 analysis.

For the latest raw numbers, please visit: murders.opendatabarbados.org.

Murders 2022 - Barbados Murder Map Jan to Dec 2022
Image 1 – Barbados Murder Map January to December 2022
Murders 2022 - Jan to Dec Table
Table 1 – Murders in Barbados January to December 2022

Note to Table 1: Data was obtained from reports in the Media and keyed into an Excel sheet for end of month analysis. However, the same data is also keyed into the online database at murders.opendatabarbados.org for immediate access.

Murders 2022 - Jan to Dec
Chart 1 – Murders by Month, January to December 2022

Notes to Chart 1: 7 (or 17%) of the 42 murders took place in August. On average, there have been at least 3.5 murders per month (Jan to Dec).

Murders 2022 - Murders by Parish, Jan to Dec
Chart 2 – Murders by Parish, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 2: 26 (or 62%) of the 42 murders took place in the parish of St. Michael.

Murders 2022 - Per capita by parish Jan to Dec
Table 2 – Murders Per Capita by Parish, January to December 2022

Note to Table 2: I’ve added per capita by parish values because looking at the absolute value of murders by parish, without taking into consideration the population by parish, does not tell the complete picture. However, the population values by parish are not current and are based on 2010 census data.

Murders 2022 - Percapita by parish, Jan to Dec chart.
Chart 3 – Murders Per Capita by Parish, January to December 2022
Murders 2022 - How victims were killed, Jan to Dec
Chart 4 – How, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 4: 33 (83%) of the 40 murders, excluding 2 Unknown, were shooting related.

Murders 2022 - murders by age group, Jan to Dec
Chart 5 – Murders by Age Group, January to December 2022

Notes to Chart 5: Age data was available for 41 of the 42 victims. Excluding Unknown, 19 (or 46%) of the victims fell into the 25 to 34 year old age group. The average age of victims was 35.3 years old. Youngest victims were 20 years old, while the eldest victim was 86.

Murders 2022 - Victims by gender, Jan to Dec
Chart 6 – Murders by Gender, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 6: The first female murder victim of the year was 44-year-old Caroline Baird (shooting related incident in St. Michael). Shortly thereafter (either the same or following day), 86-year-old – who was also the eldest victim to date – Gloria Leacock was killed. I cannot ascertain how it happened, but in terms of where, it was reported as taking place in the parish of St. Peter.

Murders 2022 - Weekend vs. Workweek Jan to Dec.
Chart 7 – Murders by Workweek/Weekend, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 7: I define the workweek as running from Monday to Thursday, and the weekend as running from Friday to Sunday. Murders in Barbados for 2022 were split 50/50 between WE and WW.

Murders 2022 - murders by day of the week, Jan to Dec
Chart 8 – Murders by Day of the Week, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 8: 9 (or 21%) of the 42 murders happened on Friday.

Murders 2022 - time slot of murders, Jan to Dec
Chart 9 – Murders by Time Slot, January to December 2022

Note to Chart 9: The time reported in The Media of the incident is what I use to assign murders to one of six time slots. However, it is important to note that in some cases, this may not be when the victim was attacked (or their time of death). For example, in the case of Trey Akeem Kemar Murray (June 7), The Nation reported that police arrived at the scene at 8:15 PM. As that was the only time mentioned, I used this and assigned it to the “F” period: 8 PM to 12 AM. Unknown means there was no time mentioned, or if a time was mentioned, it may not be reliable (in my opinion). That being said, 21 (or 55%) of the 38 murders, excluding the 4 “Unknown,” took place between 8 PM and 12 AM.

caribbeansignal.com is the personal blog of Amit Uttamchandani. The information presented here does not represent official crime or murder statistics, nor do they represent the views, beliefs, opinions, et cetera, of Amit’s employers or associates (past or present).