COUNTY HAS MOST HOMICIDES SINCE '89

A Year Of Rampant Killings Began With A Baby.

Tavares Carter, 8 months, was shot in his car seat after his mom
parked in front of a drug house and rivals opened fire with assault rifles.

In 2007, 103 people died in a final moment of violence in Palm Beach
County, the highest number of homicides in nearly two decades.

Death came by broken bottle, brick, fire, 5-foot rod, crowbar,
kitchen knife, shopping cart, leash, belt and a backpack of beer.

Most often it resulted from gunshots and fists, among young people
involved in gang disputes and drugs.

The number of killings surpassed last year's 101 and was the highest
total since the record of 110 was set in 1989.

Seven victims were younger than 9.

Nine of the dead were teenagers. In seven cases, teenagers were arrested.

"Some of them are hardened criminals. Just because they're teenagers
doesn't mean they're not," said Lt. Michael Wallace of the Palm Beach
County Violent Crimes Task Force.

Of 21 cases the task force handled, 17 were gang-related, even though
some of the victims weren't in a gang.

Fifteen deaths in the county were at the hands of a relative. Four
were murder-suicides.

Many victims lived in a dangerous world when they were killed,
whether it was among guns, drugs, prostitution or an abusive
relationship. Seven were homeless.

The year's homicide rate in the county was 8 per 100,000 residents,
well below the 1989 peak of 13 per 100,000. But it was a decided
upturn from the steady declines of recent years.

Homicide and other violence across Florida surged in the 1980s,
fueled largely by drug wars and the crack cocaine epidemic, but
declined through the '90s and beyond even as the population soared.
However, the number of killings locally jumped from 80 in 2005 to 101
in 2006 and 103 last year.

"In some cases, people put themselves in harm's way," said Lt. Jeff
Andrews of the Palm Beach County sheriff's violent crimes division.
"In some, maybe someone's going shopping, trying to close the
business for the night and now they're a victim of a homicide and
those are very alarming."

And those are the mysteries that taunt investigators:

Randi Gorenberg was shot in the head and pushed out of her sport
utility vehicle barefoot in a park near Delray Beach.

Mother and daughter Nancy and Joey Bochicchio were tied to the seats
of their sport utility vehicle and shot in the head in the parking
lot of the Town Center mall in Boca Raton.

Carl Edwards was cooperating with a robber when he was shot and
killed as he closed a business in Belle Glade.

Shalena Perry was struck by a stray bullet outside a Riviera Beach nightclub.

Those deaths, along with the death of the baby, are among the 48
unsolved cases.

Detectives cleared 53 percent of homicides this year, compared with
the national average of 62 percent.

However, some of those crimes occurred during the past few weeks and
investigators say they are close to making some arrests.

There was murder in malls, cars, clubs, alleys, the woods, the water
and on the highway.

Homicides are rising just about everywhere in Palm Beach County and nationwide.

In 2006, there were three in the Glades. Last year, there were nine.

In 2006, there were six in Lake Worth. Last year, there were 11.

In 2006, there were 12 in Riviera Beach. Last year, there were 14.

West Palm Beach had fewer homicides in 2007 than the previous year -
12, down from 17 - but detectives aren't celebrating.

"I'd love to give credit to our homicide squad. I really would,"
Capt. Pat Maney said. "But there has been a spike in violent activity
all around us. It could just be we're out of the cycle right now. ...
Homicide is not a predictable crime."

In Lake Worth, the increase in killing was attributed largely to a
gang dispute that resulted in the deaths of three in one incident on March 27.

"It's very rare to have three homicides in one location," said Lake
Worth police Lt. Dave Matthews. "It is an anomaly. ... Since March,
we didn't have a gang-related homicide. It's not to say we didn't
have gang problems. But I'm not seeing that now, like we did at the
beginning of the year."

Some homicides were cleared because they were deemed acts of self-defense.

For the first time in Palm Beach County, a defendant was acquitted of
murder last year based on the Castle Doctrine law. The law allows
people to use deadly force if they feel threatened.

Last year, four people claiming self-defense weren't even arrested or
indicted. And there are probably more to come, investigators said.

"There's an upswing of these cases where people are claiming they're
defending their property," Andrews said. "Before we'd have one a
year. Now we're seeing three or four a year."

The higher number of homicides, coupled with an increase in armed
robberies, isn't expected to slow down anytime soon.

"It's not supposed to get better," Wallace said. " Experts are
predicting a spike to continue until 2012."

He is most concerned with teens who have guns and don't care about
the consequences of their actions.

"I'll give you a quote one of the guys we arrested said, and it's
scary: 'We live for the moment,'" Wallace said. "That is the
mentality. When you have that gang mentality, it's 'I don't care
about you, give me your money.' Crack.

"We haven't hit the spike yet."