So far, there have been five murders. In four of those deaths, an arrest has been made. One is still under investigation.

According to the New York State Crime Index, since 2000 Chautauqua County has averaged 2.5 murders a year.

Every year since 2000 there has been at least one recorded murder in the county. The highest was in 2008 when there were six homicides, one fewer than this year.

After Darius Kadenhead of Buffalo was indicted in July for the Jan. 22 murder at the Parkview Apartments in Jamestown, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt noted the jump in homicides. “Mr. (Marlon) Clay’s death was our first homicide of 2024. Within the next three months, before we even closed out the month of April, a total of five confirmed homicides occurred in our relatively small community. This is more than the number of homicides which occurred in the city of Boston, Massachusetts through June, if you can believe that,” he said.

The death of 12-year-old Mya Smith has been deemed suspicious.

In a follow-up interview, Schmidt said it’s difficult to say why there’s been such a jump.

He did not speculate on the motive for Kadenhead’s death nor the death of Trevon D. Tripp, 26, of Dunkirk. He was killed by gunshot at 839 Prendergast Ave., Jamestown.

William Hernandez, 53, and Juan C. Rivera, 35, of Jamestown are expected to face charges from a Chautauqua County Grand Jury in relation to Tripp’s death. Both men have been arrested in unrelated incidents.

Schmidt further noted that of the five homicides in 2024, three of the victims were children.

On April 13, Matthew E. Nuttall, 26, allegedly caused the death of Isaac Benton, who was 16 months old, by blunt force trauma.

Nuttall allegedly threw the child into a Pack-and-Play portable crib because he was frustrated the baby wouldn’t stop crying. The child’s spinal cord was severed, which caused the child’s death.

In a separate case, Sean Thomas, 26, was charged with second-degree murder and other crimes related to the death of Aniyah Turk.

Thomas is accused of intentionally strangling and shaking Aniyah on April 22 and earlier, which caused catastrophic and unrecoverable injuries requiring her hospitalization on life support until she eventually succumbed to her injuries in May.

The third case involves a Silver Creek child who died in April. No arrests have been made in that case, however Schmidt said his office is actively investigating it.

On April 30, the Silver Creek Central School District announced it was mourning the death of seventh grader Mya Smith, who died the day before.

During a press conference on Aug. 2, Schmidt noted the three child deaths all occurred in April. “April, by the way, was (National Child) Abuse Awareness and Prevention month, which is a horrific irony for all of us,” he said.

The one good piece of news is there hasn’t been any reported murders in Chautauqua County for the last three months. All five murders took place before May 1.

Chautauqua County

Homicides 2024

— Jan. 22 – Marlon Clay, 28, killed by gunshot at Parkview Apartments in Jamestown. Darius Kadenhead of Buffalo indicted.

— March 18 – Trevon D. Tripp, 26,of Dunkirk killed by gunshot at 839 Prendergast Ave., Jamestown. William Hernandez, 53, and Juan C. Rivera, 35, of Jamestown arrested.

— April 13 – 16 month old Isaac Benton of Jamestown killed by blunt force trauma. Matthew E. Nuttall, 26, indicted.

— April 22 – Eighth month old Aniyah Turk of Jamestown was killed after being shaken and strangled which caused catastrophic and unrecoverable injuries requiring her hospitalization on life support until she eventually succumbed to her injuries in May.

— April 29 – Mya Smith, of Silver Creek 12, dies. The case is deemed suspicious. No arrests have been made. The investigation is continuing.