New study linking blight and homicide may help predict where murder may occur
A new study led by LSU Department of Sociology Assistant Professor Matthew Valasik is the first to show a statistical connection between homicide, blighted buildings and convenient stores in Baton Rouge. Valasik, a doctoral candidate in sociology Elizabeth Brault and his former student Stephen Martinez, who is now an investigator in the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's office looked at where homicides occurred in the city in 2016. They found that nearly 25 percent of homicides in Baton Rouge takes place within the same areas that comprise about 3 percent of the city.
