Oklahoma murder rate dramatically up for 2015

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Rape, aggravated assault and murder: All categories of crime that increased statewide in 2015.

"We just had a shooting in a neighborhood, a stabbing at an apartment complex," said Jennifer Rush, of the Crime Prevention Network.

At the headquarters for Crime Stoppers, they've seen an increased interest in the Alert Neighbors program.

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"The scary thing for Oklahoma is that crime is tied to how well the economy is," said Rush.

With the state's $1.3 billion budget shortfall, crime could still increase.

"That's my opinion but I definitely have done a lot of research on how the economy, health, education, they are all tied into crime rates," she said.

One relatively small figure, six, correspondsto what the OSBI says is the number of hate crimes against homosexuals statewide.

"It's very under-reported," said the executive director of the Equality Center, Toby Jenkins. He had some numbers of his own.

"For 2015 we had 23 reported incidents of individuals who had either been violently attacked, they had either had their property vandalized, they'd been assaulted," he said.

By far the most alarming increasing was the 35-percent spike in homicides.

"My son's life was everything to me," said Chanda Gilbert.

She says her son, Blayne Davis was murdered, and has case remains unsolved five years later.

"Let's see, it's 5 years, 2 months and 21 days," she said.

Last year 241 families were introduced to the pain Gilbert carries. And hers is compounded by the case remaining unsolved.

"If anybody that they have talked to, I beg them to contact the news or Osage County and let them know, you don't have to be the one to carry their guilt," she said.