AU students create silent but powerful message on murders
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - In the FBI’s national data on crime statistics, Augusta ranked 32 in the nation for murder rate per capita.
The latest local data from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office shows July was the worst month for shootings and homicides in the last five years.
Augusta University students came together to pay tribute to the lives lost from violent crime here at home and across the country.
A powerful message about our county’s rising murder rate was left for AU students to see as they by.
“It’s 21,570 murders in 2020, which is up,” said Dean of Pamplin Colleges Dr. Kim Davies.
One mark for every death. A giant project, taking less than an hour to create.
Davies has been putting together this social project for the past 15 years with students from her sociology of murder class.
But for the first time, it’s headed in a different direction.
“Maybe the highest it’s ever been since I’ve been doing it for this class. Murder was higher in the ‘90s when I was in grad school, but it’s been going down down down. Hopefully, it’s not a trend where we continue up; but we’re back up,” she said.
Further than that, at a 30 percent jump from 2019 to 2020, it’s the highest increase recorded in modern history.
Nicole is a student at AU. She said, “This is just advocating for them and advocating for other families who have gone through such a bad, horrible thing.”
They say awareness is the first step to finding the solution.
“Instead of just a statistic, you can touch these markings. You can go see them,” she said.
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