Target 12 Crimetracker: 2008 Murders

(WPRI) - More than a dozen people have been killed on local streets this year, and about half those cases are still unsolved. Tonight, we're telling you where these murders happened, and what police are doing to solve the crimes.

While the families wait and wonder why it happened and who did it, police say it's not always easy to find out because not everyone says what they know.

Family Member of Victim: "Beautiful man, beautiful man. Young brother in the urban community."

Thirty-two year old Michael Holston, from Providence and twenty-two year old William Payne, from New Bedford, are both murder victims.

Police Lt.: "Someone or someone's opened fire on this vehicle, killing one occupant of the vehicle."

They're two of fifteen local murders so far this year. Target-12 Crimetracker takes you beyond the crime scene tape for a revealing look at each one. From Central Falls to Providence, to New Bedford, each mark on the Crimetracker map, means a life lost to violence.

But they're much more than that to Dewayne Hackney, who was close to Providence victim Michael Holston.

Dewayne Hackney, Friend of Victim: "Here we have certain circumstances that put us in certain situations, and sometimes the results aren't always pretty. But he was a beautiful man and he's another brother that's become a statistic."

For months, Target-12 Crimetracker has studied each local murder, mapping and tracking them. We find about half remain unsolved. The pain is almost always unbearable.

Family Member of Victim: "He was always singing and laughing. It's an emptiness, really an emptiness."

A void that is sometimes never filled because police and prosecutors are hampered by those who don't come forward and help solve crimes because they're afraid to tell what they know.

District Attorney Samuel Sutter: "That's not snitching, that's doing the right and decent thing."

This "no snitch" mentality is hurting investigations, including the shooting death of 15-year old Edwin Medina. At least two men at the scene first questioned were later arrested and charged for lying to the cops about what they knew.

That case was solved say police, but for Michael Holston's friends and family in Providence, a suspect still hasn't been identified.

Family Member of Victim: "Not again, I mean, not again. Another brother gone, another brother gone."

Holston's close friends are trying to combat crime with a billboard in Providence. His name, and so many more on it, serving as a reminder of the violence they're trying to stop.

Gerard Catala, Victim's Friend: "It started out as a memorial for my brother, Jarel Cameron, and from there in his death and the death of so many others, it trickled down into us wanting to do this billboard so we could be more visual and more verbal in our cry for help."

In tracking 2008 murders, we find seven remain unsolved right now. Three in Providence, one in Central Falls and New Bedford, and a double murder in Taunton. These crimes are sometimes hidden behind a veil of secrecy and a fear of retaliation, which those affected say needs to change.

Family Member of Victim: "It's on us to it do for us. It's on us to help us change our minds."

Target-12 Crimetracker isn't just showing you where these crimes happened; we're giving you ways to help police.

Click here to see the Target 12 Crimetracker: 2008 Murder Map