Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.
The number of homicides in Southern Nevada rose slightly in 2002 compared with the previous year.
Metro Police responded to 144 slayings through Dec. 31, compared with 138 the year before, a 4.3 percent increase. North Las Vegas officers saw an increase to 21 from 20 the year before, and in Henderson the number went down, to five from nine.
The numbers do not include officer-involved shootings. There were 24 in Metro's jurisdiction last year, seven of them fatal.
The increases, when growth in the population was considered, showed no real rise in the most violent crimes.
In Metro's jurisdiction 12 homicides were committed per 100,000 population in both 2002 and 2001. In North Las Vegas, 15.5 were recorded per 100,000 population in both years. In Henderson the number went down to 2 per 100,000 people from 4.5 the previous year.
"Given the fact that they're going up elsewhere across the country, that's relatively good news," said Terry Miethe, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, adding, "Though when you're talking about people dying, it's not good news.
"With the economy and the fact that people are kind of frustrated, it could be worse," he said.
That is little comfort for those whose loved ones were among the statistics, however.
Eric Quintana's cousin, Isaac Perez, was killed May 8 after he was kidnapped in his Lincoln Town Car from Ruth Fyfe Elementary School, where he worked as a night custodian.
"It was kind of hard coming into the new year without him," Quintana said. "We just stayed at home, and wished he was here, like he always was."
Quintana said he and his family, whom Perez lived with, planned to visit the cemetery on New Year's Day to remember him and Quintana's son, who was killed in 1999 in a drunken-driving accident.
"We buried Isaac's ashes where (my son) is buried at. This evening, we will do a candlelight vigil," Quintana said.
Giles Manley, 16, of Las Vegas is charged with murder in Perez' death, as well as facing other charges stemming from a crime spree that started with the kidnapping and included the shooting and wounding of a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper and a crash during a chase with police that killed another driver.
"We really miss him, and it's really hard, especially with the holidays," said Quintana, who also worked at Ruth Fyfe Elementary. "It's just a crazy world we live in."
The homicide toll gave Families of Murder Victims, a group that helps people whose loved ones have been murdered, 20 new members this year, said Ron Cornell, president of the group, whose son was murdered in 1998 at age 16.
"There are no words to describe losing a child to a violent crime or murder. You feel inadequate and you feel responsible, because as a father, it's your role to be a protector," he said.
Still, the year's toll seemed to put Clark County back on a steady rate of homicides, after a couple of years of a declining number of slayings.
In 2000, Metro had the lowest number of killings in a decade -- 95 -- and North Las Vegas had only 10, its lowest number of five years. Henderson recorded no homicides in 1999.
But when compared with the per capita numbers of recent years, last year's total was relatively low.
Metro Police had about 13 homicides per 100,000 residents in 1998, compared with 12 last year, and North Las Vegas had 15.5 last year and 15.4 five years ago. In Henderson, two homicides per 100,000 residents were recorded in 1998 and 2002.
The slayings, at least in Henderson, did not seem to follow any pattern, Henderson Police Lt. Hector Mancillas said.
"These were merely separate incidents due to bad circumstances," Mancillas said. "People were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They caught somebody on the wrong day."
Henderson had one unexplained death that was being investigated as a homicide, police spokesmen said. It also recorded one slaying Wednesday, hours after the new year began.
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