Macon pacing for record-breaking number of homicides in 2020, but unlikely to happen

If things continue at the pace from the last 100 days, Macon may set a record for the most homicides in a year.

The Macon Telegraph reported that Bibb County's annual death toll will "eclipse the modern-day high for the number of slayings" if homicides continue at the current pace. The record is 43 in 1992.

The paper says it is unlikely to happen, though.

"Homicide trends, however, are difficult to project," The Telegraph reported. "The present pace of one killing every five days or so since the first homicide of the year on Jan. 20 is unlikely to continue."

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The reason for the current pace isn’t entirely clear, but Bibb County Sheriff David Davis told The Telegraph the current state of affairs, impacted by the coronavirus, may play a part.

“I really do think that the mindset, the uncertainty ... does play a subliminal role in people’s actions,” he said.

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Davis said one-third to one-half of the killings this year appear to be drug- or alcohol-related. He said most of the others happened due to domestic disputes.

Police and domestic abuse survivor advocates say the increased isolation from social distancing and the stress from finances and other factors, including the closure of schools and businesses, could make domestic abuse more prevalent.

"The financial stress alone creates a ticking time bomb for some families with a history of domestic violence," Steve Mueller, sheriff of Cherokee County, South Carolina, told NBC News in April.

A list of Bibb County homicides in 2020, according to The Telegraph, are below: