Fact check: How many homicides have occurred in DC in the past year?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available data, 101 homicides have occurred in Washington, D.C. as of August 25, 2025, representing a 15% decrease from 2024 ^[1]. This figure provides the most current and specific answer to the question about homicides in the past year.

Additional sources corroborate this general range, with one reporting "nearly 100 homicides" in D.C. for 2025 ^[2], though these sources lack the precision and recent date of the official crime data. The decrease in homicides aligns with broader crime trends, as one source indicates that homicides were down 32% in 2024 compared to 2023 ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks important historical context that would help interpret these numbers meaningfully. Several key pieces of missing information include:

• Long-term trends: D.C.'s homicide rate has been steadily climbing since 2012, with the 2024 rate at roughly 25 per 100,000 residents ^[4]. This suggests that while 2025 shows improvement, it may still be elevated compared to earlier periods.
• Broader crime patterns: Recent data shows that violent crime in D.C. is down by almost half when comparing similar time periods between 2024 and 2025 ^[5], indicating the homicide decrease is part of a larger crime reduction trend.
• Political implications: Different stakeholders may benefit from emphasizing different aspects of these statistics. Law enforcement officials and current political leadership would benefit from highlighting the 15% decrease as evidence of successful crime reduction policies, while opposition politicians or critics might focus on the historical upward trend since 2012 to argue that crime remains problematic despite recent improvements.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself is neutral and factual, simply requesting homicide statistics. However, the way this data might be presented or interpreted could introduce bias:

• Selective timeframe bias: Focusing solely on the "past year" without historical context could either overstate improvements (if emphasizing the 15% decrease) or understate progress (if ignoring the longer-term upward trend since 2012).
• Source reliability concerns: One analysis comes from a White House source titled "FACT: Yes, D.C. Crime Is Out of Control" ^[2], which uses politically charged language that suggests potential bias in favor of portraying D.C. crime as problematic, despite reporting similar numbers to official sources.
• Data presentation: The variation in how sources present the data - some giving exact numbers ^[6], others using approximations ("nearly 100") - could lead to different interpretations depending on which source is emphasized.