Looking back at Springfield's 19 homicides in 2023
When 17-year-old Ty Glossip succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained Dec. 28 in a Grant Beach neighborhood, it continued an unfortunate Springfield trend in 2023: teen-related gun deaths.
Teen shootings have been markedly on the rise, according to local enforcement agencies, and of the 19 homicides in Springfield this past year, more than a third of the incidents reportedly involved either a teen victim or teen suspect.
Springfield's 2023 homicide total matched 2022 (19), but was well below 2021 (26) and 2020 (28), two of the deadliest years in the city's history.
The four-year total of 92 homicides — during a pandemic era appearing to exacerbate a host of problems, not limited to increased narcotics use, financial insecurity and endemic mental illness — nearly doubled the number of 49 from the four previous years (2016-2019).
Springfield, the state's third-largest city, continues to have a homicide total substantially lower than that of fellow Show-Me State population centers Kansas City (182 killings in 2023, a record high, according to reports) and St. Louis (158).
Springfield Police are expecting to later this month release data on shots fired and gun violence data for 2023.
Springfield's 2023 homicide victims
Most of Springfield's 2023 homicides resulted in arrest and charges, but other cases appear to be either still under investigation or the result of legal self-defense.
No. 19: Ty Reese James Glossip
Age: 17
Date: Dec. 28
Address: 818 North Concord
Suspect: No arrest as of Jan. 5.
Circumstances: Fatal shooting
No. 18: Nathan Williams
Age: 25
Date: Nov. 18
Address: Price Cutter on East St. Louis Street
Suspect: No arrest as of Jan. 5.
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Police identify man shot and killed Saturday in Price Cutter parking lot
No. 17: Chaviz Nguyen
Age: 25
Date: Nov. 14
Address: Intersection of Campbell Avenue and College Street
Suspects: Elysha Bedell, 19, and two juveniles (charged with first-degree murder)
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Man charged in killing of Chaviz Nguyen was left paralyzed by shooting four years earlier
No. 16: Lacey Nix
Age: 32
Date: Nov. 13
Address: 4231 West La Siesta Place
Suspect: Brandon Huddleston, 25 (charged with second-degree murder)
Circumstances: Fatal shooting
More: Springfield man who claimed self-defense charged with murder in shooting of Lacey Nix
No. 15: Jacob Gatten
Age: 33
Date: Oct. 29
Address: 2400 block of South Sheridan Boulevard
Suspect: Juvenile, 17 (charged with second-degree murder)
Circumstances: Fatal shooting
More: Shooting suspect, 17, charged with murder in juvenile court, sought house arrest
No. 14: Cole Marcinek
Age: 24
Date: Sept. 1
Address: 1600 block of West Berkeley Street
Suspect: No arrests as of Jan. 5.
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Two weeks after two separate Springfield shooting deaths, no charges have been filed
No. 13: Michael Miller
Age: 39
Date: Aug. 30
Address: Interstate 44 and Kansas Expressway (reported road-rage incident)
Suspect: No arrest as of Jan. 5.
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Man dead after road rage incident on Kansas Expressway in north Springfield
No. 12: Larry McCoo
Age: 35
Date: Aug. 6
Address: 318 North Kansas Expressway
Suspect: Arrests were made for gun charges in relation to the shooting, but no murder charges have been filed.
More: Police identify primary suspect in Aug. 6 shooting death at Kansas Expressway party
No. 11: Gary Barlow
Age: 46
Date: July 13
Address: Kansas Expressway and Interstate 44 ramp
Suspect: No arrests as of Jan. 5.
Circumstance: Fell from a driver's moving vehicle during what police called a "disturbance."
More: Police searching for driver after Springfield man falls, dies from moving minivan
No. 10: Keontae Tureaud
Age: 19
Date: July 1
Address: 214 West Madison Street
Suspect: Nikolai Janes, 20 (charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter)
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Charges filed in fatal Saturday shooting on West Madison Street in Springfield
No. 9: Kayden Morton
Age: 23
Date: June 23
Address: 902 North Glenn Avenue
Suspect: No arrests as of Jan. 5.
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Springfield police identify suspect in deadly shooting of Kayden Morton
No. 8: Jason Walker
Age: 22
Date: June 15
Address: 3417 South Virginia
Suspect: Peyton Lafferty, 18 (second-degree murder)
More: Updated: Springfield Police arrest suspect in Thursday evening homicide on south side
Nov. 7: Adrian Gutierrez
Age: 24
Date: June 4
Address: 1336 West Sunshine Street
Suspects: Police arrested two juveniles in connection to the shooting.
More: Police investigate homicide in which juveniles are suspected of murder
No. 6: Stephen Meyle
Age: 37
Date: May 13
Address: 1017 East Commercial Street
Suspects: No arrests appear to have been made in this case.
Circumstance: Fatal stabbing
More: Police investigate Commercial Street stabbing homicide
No. 5: Jimmie E. Johnson III
Age: 42
Date: May 4
Address: 2304 North National Ave
Suspect: Ronald Curnow, 24 (charged with first-degree murder)
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Police investigate homicide in which juveniles are suspected of murder
No. 4: Donna J. Spellmeier
Age: 62
Date: April 18
Address: 2110 South Florence Avenue
Suspect: Keith Spellmeier, 33 (reported murder-suicide).
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Springfield police investigate apparent murder-suicide Tuesday afternoon
No. 3: Lavelle C. Rose III
Age: 18
Date: April 17
Address: Intersection of Forest Avenue and Calhoun Street
Suspect: Xavier Moore, 21 (charged with first-degree murder)
Circumstance: Fatal shooting
More: Man police believe was shooter charged in west Springfield shooting that left teen dead
No. 2: Crystal Dye
Age: 41
Date: March 7
Address: 200 block of South Clifton Avenue
Suspect: Jerome Poole, 61 (charged with second-degree murder and convicted by a jury in December).
Circumstance: Strangulation
More: Man arrested, held without bond on suspicion of killing Springfield woman
No. 1: Justin M. Barker
Age: 33
Date: Feb. 1
Address: Tom Watkins Park
Suspect: None.
Circumstance: Barker was shot and killed by Springfield Police after reportedly pointing a gun at officers. Shooting ruled justified by Greene County Prosecutor's Office.
More: Springfield police fatally shoot armed man at Tom Watkins Park
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Looking back at Springfield's 19 homicides in 2023
