Unsolved murders have homicide detectives swamped

Tulsa Police say they are swamped with open cases right now and they need help putting killers behind bars.<br/><br/>Before 2003, the number of unsolved murder cases was relatively small. (4 in 2000, 6

Tuesday, March 28th 2006, 3:50 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police say they are swamped with open cases right now and they need help putting killers behind bars.

Before 2003, the number of unsolved murder cases was relatively small. (4 in 2000, 6 in 2001, only one in 2002.)

Police say 2003 was the beginning a gang war in Tulsa. Murders went up and so did the number of open cases.

16 cases from 2003, 15 from 2004, and 14 from 2005 are still open.

Since 2000, there's been 310 murders with 63 cases still open, which is a clearance rate of 80%.

News on 6 anchor Lori Fullbright says for detectives, 80% isn't nearly high enough.

Richard Latty's family is desparate to have his murder solved, so much so, they put up a billboard in order to generate tips.

"No one individual has the right to say your time is up," says Garry Latty.

Latty's is one of 63 open cases from the past six years in Tulsa.

Police are making a plea to citizens to call in with information about any of these cases.

"There's a certain element of the community we're talking to," says homicide detective Mike Huff. "It's not the person at the grocery store on Tuesday evening getting stuff to make their kids lunch, we're talking to the criminal element. We need them to talk."

Brittany Phillips was killed in September of 2004. Her family has also put up a billboard in hopes of keeping her case in the public eye and finding her killer.

"When I come through Tulsa I go out to the billboard and I sit there and cry a lot because I miss her," says Brittany's mother, Maggie Zingman.

Police say they now have the manpower to follow up on tips immediately, they just need those tips.

"Relationships change, friendships change, criminal associations change and we want people to call us and tell us about criminal activity and we want to solve some murders," Detective Huff says.

Detectives recently solved an East Tulsa murder and made an arrest in less than 15 hours.

Not all cases fall together so quickly and the more time that passes, the harder it is to follow the killer's trail.

Detectives tell us they are now going over all 63 unsolved murder cases from the past six years.

They will assign each one a priority and work to generate new leads.

They hope people with information about any of these cases will call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS, where no one will ask them their name or connection to the case.

Here's a list of all the unsolved murders in Tulsa since 2000:

2000 Unsolved Murders
- Lisa Gaskin, beaten to death, along railroad tracks at 4200 Southwest Blvd, 3/28/00
- Julian Berry, stabbed to death, inside home at 11107 E 17th Place, 7/11/00
- Eric Edwards, shot to death, 4500 N Garrison Avenue, 8/24/00
- Seneca Burrell, strangled, in a creek at 11000 S Delaware Avenue,12/12/00

2001 Unsolved Murders
- Abid Al-Sharif, shot to death, at convenience store at 1120 S 107th E Avenue, 5/23/01
- Femi Anjorin, shot to death, outside house at 2436 N Main, 5/25/01
- Frederick Ballard, shot to death, 5500 N Utica Avenue, 7/14/01
- Jonathan Swimp, beaten to death, 2400 E 6th Street, 8/4/01
- Thaddeus Davis Jr, shot to death, at the Mayo Hotel at 115 W Archer, 8/8/01
- Allen George, shot, 3711 W 52nd Place, 7/31/01. He died of his injuries on 8/9/01.

2002 Unsolved Murder
- Percy Skinner, shot to death, found near railraod tracks at 5424 N Marion, 4/27/02

2003 Unsolved Murders
- Kristopher Thompson, shot to death, at home on 6340 North Denver, 3/28/03
- Reginald Young, shot, driving at 100 East 27th Street North, 5/27/99. Died from gunshot complications, 5/10/03
- Neaco Padillow, shot to death, near Burroughs Elementary School at 1900 North Boston Ave, 6/3/03
- Antonio Broadnax, shot to death, while driving at 3100 East Apache, 6/5/03
- Alfredo Flores-Resendiz and Rogelio Flores-Flores, both shot to death, in apartment complex parking lot at 3149 S 108th East Ave, 8/3/03
- Alberto Dias or Alejandro Sandoval, shot to death, near apartment at 10145 East 32nd, 9/9/03
- John Holdman, shot to death, in street at 4300 North Detroit Place, 10/13/03
- Miguel Cervantes and Vianey Yanez, shot to death, outside Casa San Marcos restaurant at 2170 South Garnett Road, 10/26/03
- Alisha Wright aka/Thomas, stabbed to death, found in Jones Creek at 1269 South Memorial Drive, 11/12/03
- Chris Hubbard, shot to death, in vehicle at 1900 North Florence, 11/13/03
- Ronald Woods Jr, shot to death, in vehicle at #27 East 50th Street North, 11/22/03
- Orlando Sanders, shot to death, in home at 1516 East 10th Street, 12/12/03
- Rashad Barnes, found shot to death, in parking lot of Curlyâ€™s Bar at 216 North Elgin, 12/26/03
- Richard Edwards, shot to death, in home at 2127 North Owasso Ave, 12/31/03

2004 Unsolved Homicides
- Anthony Jackson, shot to death, in Hood Food Store at 4538 North Cincinnati, 1/17/04
- Bobbie King, died of asphyxiation by drowning, in her home at 2243 East 7th Street, on 1/30/04
- Cornelius Finch, Jr, shot to death, in vehicle at 1606 East Young Street, 1/20/04
- Rodney Campbell, shot to death, in vehicle on 4100 North Lewis, 3/7/04
- Sirran Walker, shot to death, in vehicle at 1317 South Troost, 3/15/04
- Elizabeth Jacob, shot to death, in courtyard at 8308 East 25th Place, 3/15/04
- John Hill, shot to death at 7959 East 61st street on 3-20-04
- Kejuan Parker, shot to death, in vehicle at 1842 North St Louis Avenue, 5/23/04
- Victoria Knight, beaten and stabbed to death, inside Cash in a Flash at 20 South Sheridan, 6/5/04
- Andrew Penheiro, shot to death, inside store at 12921 East 41st Street, 6/12/04
- Earl Zeigler Jr, shot to death, 1617 East Young Street, 6/13/04
- Michael Hishaw Jr, shot to death, in vehicle at 200 East Mohawk Blvd, 8/29/04
- Norma Johnson, shot to death, in home at 2814 East 42nd Place North, 9/23/04
- Brittany Phillips, strangled to death, at apartment at 9407 East 65th Street, 9/30/04
- Paul Buckley Jr, shot to death, in car at 11400 East 21st Street, 10/3/04

2005 Unsolved Homicides
- Richard Latty, shot to death, in front of apartment at 2933 East 51st Street, 2/4/05
- Eli Craven, shot to death, in vehicle at 800 East 46th Street North, 2/12/05
- Rodney Wallace, stabbed to death, in street at 6200 North Boston, 2/19/05
- Manuel Paredes, shot to death, in parking lot of Tamarack apartments at 1126 East 60th Street, 4/2/05
- DeMarco Davis, shot to death, in parking lot of Infinity Club at 9379 East 46th Street, 5/20/05
- Rafael Abrianno, shot to death, in front of Golferâ€™s Bar at 145 North Lewis, 5/29/05
- Jose Ruiz and Jaime Moran, shot to death, in vehicle at 512 North Quaker Avenue, 6/27/05
- Joseph Adetula, shot to death, in street at 5623 North Frankfort Avenue, on 7/4/05
- Jose Bravo, shot to death, inside vehicle at 4200 South 109th East Ave, on 8/6/05
- Gregory McKinney, shot to death, found in wooded area near 1900 North Xanthus, 8/9/05
- Jermaine Cox, shot to death, in ditch near 4600 North Cheyenne, 8/28/05
- Carl Johnson, shot to death, in vehicle at 4550 North Johnstown Avenue, 9/9/05
- Leroy Stephenson, shot to death, found in home at 703 North Yukon Avenue, on 12/3/05

2006 Unsolved Murders
- Dorothy Lindley and Linda Wright, stabbed to death, in apartment at 2545 East 51st Street, 1/3/06
- David Marquez, shot to death, found at 900 East 50th Street North, 1/9/06
- Nateeâ€™che Bell and Billy Traylor, shot to death, in home at 5204 East 74th Place, 2/3/06
- Ricardo Esparza, shot to death, at Latino Club at 7970 East 41st on 2/6/06
- Jose DeJesus Morello Rodriguez, shot to death, in pickup at 4800 South 73rd Eave Avenue, 3/5/06.