There were 22 homicides in Raleigh in 2007, up 16 percent over 2006.

Durham had 29 homicides, a 53 percent increase.

That tally could still increase, as Durham police continue to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred Saturday. Authorities have not yet said whether a man who died fleeing police was killed by gunfire or when his car subsequently crashed.

The annual homicide count includes both murders and killings later deemed to be in self-defense or otherwise legally justifiable.

Cary had one homicide last year, the death of a 7-month-old boy in August. The child's father, Diontay Deshone Williams, was charged with murder.

Chapel Hill police reported no homicides.

Bruce Lightner, a community activist in Southeast Raleigh, said he is particularly concerned by a trend he sees across the Triangle: young, mostly minority males killing other teenagers.

According to a list compiled by Lightner, a funeral director, at least 29 of those slain in the Triangle last year were 25 years old or younger.

"When you've got 16- and 17-year-olds murdering and getting murdered, it does not speak well for our society," he said.

Among the dead are Tavisa Nicole Cartnail, 14, who was shot in the head by a stray bullet on March 26 while riding in an SUV on North Driver Street in Durham. A 17-year-old has been charged with murder.

Seventh-grader Gelnirys Ortega, 13, was shot to death May 1 when men burst into her family's Raleigh apartment seeking drug money. Eight men have been charged.

Sheridan Pierce Glenn, 19, of Durham, was shot in the stomach May 7. Another 19-year-old was charged with murder the next day.

High school student Quincy Bowens, 15, was shot June 25 while playing with his cousins outside his aunt's Durham home. Jasmond Jevon "Catfish" Rogers, 28, was arrested and charged July 18 after a shootout with police.

Kordero Teriq Odom, 19, was found dead Aug. 26 in the 1000 block of Rosedale Avenue in Durham. Two teens, ages 18 and 19, were charged.

Samuel Reyes Uscanga, 16, was shot by a Durham police officer outside of the city's main library branch Nov. 6 after fleeing from a vehicle involved in an attempted armed robbery and subsequent vehicle chase.

"We are trending younger," said Marcia Owen, a Durham activist who helps organize prayer vigils after every slaying. "When young people have ready access to guns, we're creating a disaster. ... These are preventable deaths. We don't have to live in a society like this. That's part of the tragedy."

The Rev. Melvin Whitley, an East Durham resident, was behind a recent push for state legislation forbidding convicted felons already barred from owning firearms from being able to buy ammunition. The effort went nowhere.

"It's nothing unusual to hear gunfire in my community at night," said Whitley, who makes a point of attending every funeral of a teenage homicide victim in Durham.

Whitley said that in the county's crowded courts, where it can often take years for felony charges to go to trial, cases against violent offenders are routinely dismissed after witnesses don't show up to testify.

Witness intimidation and a social reluctance to be a "snitch" are serious problems, and Durham officials do a poor job of notifying witnesses and victims of when they need to come to court, he said.

"There's an attitude in our community that if I'm black and I kill another black person, then I won't get any [prison] time, so why not do it?" Whitley said. "The system is broke."

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