Atlanta had 51 unsolved murders in 2016, including these black women
Jokisha Brown, Taylor Hayden and Bridget Shiel were all gunned down in Atlanta in 2016. There are no suspects, police said in a shocking release of unsolved murder cases this week.
The city of Atlanta just released homicide statistics for 2016. Police said that there are 51 unsolved murders, including several black women.
They include a Prairie View A&M graduate in town for a girls' weekend. Another woman was a model and reality TV cast member who was executed at close range outside a salon.
Here are some of there stories, stories that we at Black Girl Tragic will always tell.
Taylor Hayden was gunned down outside a Buckhead nightclub in July 2016.
She was already on her way to being a distinguished person. The 25-year-old had recently graduated from Prairie View A&M University outside Houston and was poised for greater accomplishments. She traveled to Atlanta to have some fun.
“The interesting thing about this is that it was her first girlfriends’ weekend. She had wanted to go on a girlfriends’ weekend forever,” Joyce Hayden, Taylor’s mother, told WCCO-TV in Minnesota.
“They had rented a house, they had this fun weekend planned. It’s tragic that it ended like that. Really tragic,” Joyce told the TV station.
Taylor had gotten a new apartment, a new job and a new car. She was ready for the world. Her family had already known success: Her brother, Jeffrey Hayden, is a state senator representing Minnesota.
Police have no suspects in the case.
Bridget Shiel had come from a troubled home, but had recently enrolled in beauty school in Atlanta, Georgia, and was looking to start a career in entertainment. She was even able to star in a rap video. The 19-year-old was also an aspiring model whose smile would "light up the room," her father has told media outlets.
On May 31, Shiel's nude body was found around 6:45 a.m. riddled with bullets in an Atlanta park, near some basketball courts.
She was hit several times in her leg and back. Because of this, police say Bridget Shiel was shot running away from her victim.
Police have no suspects or motive, but what makes the case even more mysterious is that Shiel was shot with extremely rare bullets. The bullets, which have only been on the market about two years, are called “R.I.P.” which doesn't stand for “rest in peace.” Rather, it means “Radically Invasive Projectile.” Police say these bullets have tips like buzz saws, and are designed to inflict maximum damage to the flesh by virtually drilling into the target.
Jokisha Dynasty Brown was the mother of an 11-year-old son. The 35-year-old was in Atlanta in July 2016, having traveled 20 miles from her Duluth, Georgia home, was waiting in her black Mercedes SUV for her appointment outside a makeup studio. To add to her excitement, in one day she would turn 36 years old.
That's when the shots rang out, police say. Brown was shot “multiple” times through the passenger seat of the SUV.
"Some witnesses say he was a light-complexioned black male. Others say he was possibly Hispanic," a police spokesman told reporters at a July 14 news conference. "We believe ... he came there to murder her. Ms. Brown was shot many -- multiple -- times. Because of the heinous nature of this crime we believe she was definitely an intended target. Whoever did this meant to kill her ... it looks like a hit."
Many more black women have been killed in the city during the year, but these are the ones where law authorities have hit a brick wall.
If you know anything that might help solve these cases, please call Atlanta police or Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404 577-TIPS(8477).