For the first time in recent memory, Brevard’s reported homicides have fallen to new lows for the first six months of the year, mirroring the downward trend taking place across the nation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brevard County law enforcement agents say that while non-lethal shootings and domestic arguments that fueled cases in previous years continue at a steady pace, homicide numbers on the Space Coast are dropping — down more than 50% over the first half of the year in 2024 and 2023. Brevard has 10 reported homicides to date this year, down from the 24 cases investigated this time in July in both 2023 and 2024.
Criminal justice experts point to a number of reasons for the decline, from the return of post-pandemic services, including schools reopening and other social programs, to policing techniques.
“It’s difficult to attribute the relatively low number of homicides to any one specific factor,” said Assistant State Attorney Michael Hunt, who often reviews homicide-related cases.
“But it is a positive trend.”
Nationally, homicide rates dropped by at least 14% in 2024, the last year of the most recent FBI data. However, not all law enforcement agents report homicide statistics, nor are non-criminal traffic-related homicides typically included in the figures. So far, 2,095 homicides have been reported in 2025, according to the Real Time Crime Index, a privately funded data collector that reviews information from federal, state and local sources. Last year at this time, there were 2,621 reported homicides, the index reported.
In Brevard, a county of 643,000 people, there were 45 reported homicides in 2023. In any given year since the pandemic until now, Brevard saw at least 40 homicides, with motives ranging from robbery and gang violence to domestic abuse, drugs and neglect.
In local cases from January through June 2025, two victims were set on fire; three died in a crash on Interstate 95 during a chase in Cocoa; and another was stabbed to death in Melbourne, records show.
In April, a 35- year-old former Brevard County sheriff’s correction deputy suspected of killing a 72-year-old Titusville socialite and burning her remains was formally indicted by the Brevard County grand jury.
David Armstrong Barber was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, arson, two counts of tampering with or destroying evidence and abuse of a dead human body in connection with the March 4 death of Jessie Kirk, 72.
In May, a Brevard native died in the only non-law enforcement gun-related shooting to take place since January.
Autum Minick counts the days since she last saw her 19-year-old son Nathaniel Bernard Jennings, a lover of country music, cowboy boots, fishing and football. A college freshman at West Liberty University and a former football player for Heritage High School who aspired to play in the NFL, he was shot to death during a confrontation in Melbourne on May 11, Mother’s Day.
Now, Minick is left with the memories of her son learning to fish; of him rolling out to The Compound in Palm Bay to go off-road riding.
“My son was murdered,” she said bluntly.
“He got here from college on a Thursday night, came home, chilled and said he was going out with his cousin. The next phone call I get is that he got shot.”
Two other 2025 cases involved officer-involved shootings, including one in Titusville where an armed 25-year-old Tri-Marea Charles was shot to death while running from an officer, following what prosecutors said was a “violent confrontation.” In that case, the state attorney’s office cleared the officers in the case as a justifiable use of deadly force.
“Loss of life is tragic and the circumstance by which life is lost deserves a thorough and untainted review. I offer my sincere condolences to all affected,” Brevard County State Attorney stated in a letter issued June 10 with his determination in the case.
Brevard typically sees at least two deadly officer-related shootings a year, a review of the records show, although the numbers will vary.
Officers have previously been criminally charged in such homicide cases in Brevard. Joshua Payne, a former police officer who shot James Lowery, 40, in the head during a foot chase, was charged with manslaughter in 2024. He was given five years of probation as part of a plea deal in the case.
Shootings continue despite homicide dip
Homicides across the nation have been trending downward since the onset of the pandemic, according to FBI statistics issued in 2024.
In 2023, 19,252 people were killed nationwide through homicides, including non-negligent manslaughter cases.
Despite the trend in homicide rates, crime scene tape continues to go up and detectives across Brevard remain busy.
The relatively positive news of lower homicide numbers comes even as shootings — stemming, police say, from the proliferation of guns — continue in streets and homes across Brevard, records show.
More than half a dozen shootings were reported in May and June, including a May 13 incident which left a teen father and his 1-year-old daughter wounded in a shootout in front of a West Cocoa store. Both father and child survived.
The last week of June, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office investigated another neighborhood shooting that left at least two wounded.
Nationally, criminal justice experts believe the downward trend for violent crime will continue. The FBI’s preliminary crime statistics for 2025 have not yet been released. However, the total number of felony cases filed by the Brevard State Attorney’s office grew by 3% in the 12 months ending July 1 versus the previous 12 months, officials say.
“Our police agencies and prosecutors are still busy in Brevard County,” said Matt Reed, spokesperson for the state attorney’s office, in a email to FLORIDA TODAY.
A new focus but little comfort for families
Six months into the new Trump administration, federal authorities have publicly talked about tackling violent crime, including homicides.
Kash Patel, director of the FBI, has openly talked about sending agents into cities like Chicago and Memphis, which over the years have been at the heart of several politically tinged narratives about homicides and violent crime in urban cities. Both cities, like others across the nation, however, have reported lower homicide rates since the outbreak of COVID-19, statistics show.
“I didn’t know this until my confirmation process, but Memphis, Tennessee, is the homicide capital of America, per capita,” Patel said in the interview with FOX News in May.
“Didn’t know that. We have a problem there. We’re now addressing it. We’re rolling out one of our task forces to the state of Tennessee.”
For Autum Minick, there is no comfort in anecdotes or in crime statistics.
Her focus now, she says, is seeking justice for her son, who was shot at least eight times as he attempted to flee the parking lot confrontation which led to his death.
Prosecutors said Stephen Dieujuste, 24, could be seen on a surveillance video stepping back and firing his Glock handgun several times at Jennings, who, unarmed, was seen running toward East New Haven Avenue before collapsing on the sidewalk. He was pronounced dead at Holmes Regional Medical Center.
Dieujuste, 24, was charged with second-degree murder but remains free on a $100,000 bond issued on the initial charge. A hearing on the case is set for Aug. 7.
Minick remains frustrated that the man who police said shot her son is not behind bars.
“My son was a gift from God; that’s what his name means. He was the happiest, most loving kid you would ever meet. I believe God is going to get the last word on this,” she said.
“Don’t kill … that’s a life. You can’t get that back.”
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, or Twitter: @JDGallop
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard homicides on downward trend for first half of 2025, mirroring national shift
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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