By Alabama Public Radio
Alabama – Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville has the state's most homicides last year, according to new crime statistics from the F-B-I.
The 85 murders in Birmingham represent a 30 percent increase from the previous year. Last year, Mobile had 24 homicides ... a decrease of 40 percent from 2002. Huntsville saw the biggest jump in its homicide rate with 19 ... that's a 280 percent increase from the five people who were killed the year before.
Nationally, homicides increased 1-point-1 percent last year, but violent crime overall dropped 3-point-2 percent.