Hamilton Co. coroner notes increase in female homicides

CINCINNATI (AP) — The county coroner in Cincinnati says an increase in female homicide victims in the city is noteworthy but not necessarily an indication of what the annual total number will be.

Hamilton County Coroner O’dell Owens said today there have been 16 female homicides so far this year, twice as many as in either of the previous two years.

The FBI counts murders rather than all homicides and says there were 73 murders in Cincinnati in 2008, an increase of 11 from 2007.

Cincinnati is Ohio’s third-largest city and also ranks third in murders. The FBI lists 109 in Columbus and 102 in Cleveland in 2008.