HOUSTON — Walk a neighborhood with Reggie Gordon and you can hear his passion. He himself spent time in prison and now he's a community activist.
"It's been a big pet peeve of mine. How do we bring these kinds of violent behaviors of senseless crime to a halt?" said Gordon with United In Peace.
But before you can stop crime, you have to understand where it's happening.
KHOU 11 Investigates crunched the numbers and found the top three ZIP codes with the most murders through August of this year.
Houston ZIP codes with most murders
77033: The Southpark neighborhood in southeast Houston had 11 murders.
77022: There have also been 11 murders north of Loop 610 to Tidwell, between the Hardy Toll Road and Independence Heights.
77036: The area that includes Sharpstown and Chinatown had 10 murders.
It's the highest murder rate Houston has seen since the 1990s.
Check the murder rate in your ZIP code
If you want to know how many murders have been reported in your ZIP code, this map can tell you.
"I think you can't really compare the two. Back in the 90's, we were dealing with a lot of narcotics related murders, cartels – those types of murders," said Asst. Chief Belinda Null, with Houston Police. "This year, in particular, we've seen an increase in family violence, gang crimes and robberies."
One of those murder victims was Mario Simpson. At 20-years-old, he was killed in a shooting that, according to court documents, was gang-related.
"He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd and this tragedy happened," said Chauntie Warfield, his mother.
Simpson was killed on February 1, 2021 at La Casita on Rosamond, an apartment complex on the northside that had seen four murders as of August.
Houston police are still looking for the suspect charged with Simpson's murder, 28-year-old Patrick Greene.
"I just miss my son dearly and do not want another family to go through and feel what I'm feeling," Warfield said.
Gordon doesn't want any other families to lose a loved one either. It's why he advocates for change. A way to reach young people and break the cycle of violence, something he calls trauma informed care.
"Only way we're gonna do that, we got to be able to have people that's trained, that can address to deal with conflict, and know how to deal with trauma," Gordon said. "Seeing the person as who they are, meet them where they are at, and deal with the problem they are dealing with."
Gordon says resources are key, but so is being consistent. Curbing crime isn't about one neighborhood. He says it's a problem the whole city has to want to solve.
"It's been proven that if we don't get involved, it will eventually tap on your doorstep," said Gordon.
To read more about the work Gordon is doing in Houston area neighborhoods, click here.
If you have any information on unsolved murders, please call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
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