Drop in murder rate means little to victims' families

BALTIMORE - There has been much made about numbers in the past few days.

Baltimore saw the lowest homicide rate since 1977; only 196 murders in 2011.

While certainly no cause for celebration, the stats are a milestone of note for Baltimore city police.

"We are on historic ground in the city and everybody should get involved with that," said Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.

But on a quiet street corner in Northeast Baltimore, the numbers can't tell the story.

"My brother wasn't just a statistic to us, it's frustrating really."

Because it was in his mother’s front yard exactly a year ago where Tori Blackwell's autistic brother Hezi Wilson became murder number three in 2011; making the anniversary of a new year for this family anything but happy.

"Today is the first year, today is one year since my brother was murdered standing out in the yard with his dog.  So no it is definitely not a happy new year," said Blackwell.

Add to it that Wilson's murder remains one of the 53 percent that went unsolved in 2011.

A sweet, caring son and brother with not an enemy in world, his murder is a seemingly random killing with no leads leaving his family in a painful purgatory.

Wilson’s bedroom is now a shrine of sorts.

Hezi was a huge Ravens fan and his mother took to adorning the walls and bed with Ravens gear in an effort to keep her son's memory alive as the investigation into his murder seems to have hit a dead end.

A pain not possibly calculated in numbers but seemingly stuck in time.

"The statistics are great but that doesn't help my family to have some kind of closure to what happened to my brother, that doesn't help me at all.  Don't give me no closure.  I mean that is great for the city of Baltimore and their statistics, but what does it do for my family?" asked Blackwell.

It was exactly a year ago today that Hezi Wilson was killed, but if you know or remember anything about the shooting, you are urged to call crime stoppers at 866-7-LOCKUP