Highest homicide rate blamed on poverty, drugs, guns

IDABEL, Okla. (AP) -- A small, southeastern Oklahoma county has the highest rate of homicides in the state.<br><br>McCurtain County recorded 71 homicides, or 20.5 per 100,000 people, from 1992 to 2001,

Wednesday, March 24th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

IDABEL, Okla. (AP) -- A small, southeastern Oklahoma county has the highest rate of homicides in the state.

McCurtain County recorded 71 homicides, or 20.5 per 100,000 people, from 1992 to 2001, according to the state Health Department.

Comparatively, Oklahoma County had 12.5 homicides per 100,000 people during that time, and Tulsa county had 8.2. The state average was 7.8.

In the past five months, McCurtain County's trend has continued, with five more homicides.

"Since November things have been insane in McCurtain County," District Attorney Virginia Sanders said. "I don't know what the answer is."

Two people were shot to death and another stabbed to death in November. In February, a prominent Idabel man was slain during a home invasion, and last weekend, an Arkansas man was stabbed to death in an apparent bar fight.

"Crime is a bad problem and meth is a big part of it," Sanders said. "I've been in this office since 1988, and it's so much busier than it has ever been."

The county also is a state leader in deaths and injuries by firearms.

It ranks second in firearm deaths on a per capita basis, behind Cimarron County and ahead of Jefferson County.

Between January 2001 and June 2003, McCurtain County had 169.8 firearms-related injuries per 100,000 people. That's well ahead of second-place McClain County, with 80, and third-place Pushmataha County, with 76.9.

The state average was 24.4 firearms-related injuries per 100,000 people.

The category includes assaults, accidents and suicides.

"McCurtain County is always at the top, if not No. 1, in firearm-related injuries and homicides," said Sue Mallonee, the Health Department's longtime chief of injury prevention. "A lot of our violence statistics are related to poverty, so some of this may be related to income levels, some of it may be related to gun ownership."

McCurtain County's per capita income for 2001 was $18,803, which ranked 55th in Oklahoma, according to state Department of Commerce statistics. The state's overall per capita income for 2001 was $25,575.

McCurtain County has a population of about 34,800, and its most notable towns include Idabel, population 7,040; Broken Bow, population 4,280; Wright City, population 860; and Valliant, population 780.