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A man and woman were found shot to death in a burning Ensley home on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016.

(Birmingham Police)

A man and a woman were found dead inside a burning home in Ensley early Sunday, bringing the total number of homicides in the city so far in 2016 to 100.

It is the first time since 2006 that Birmingham has reached 100 slayings in one year.

Birmingham police officers responded about 2:30 a.m. Sunday to the 700 block of 17th Street in Ensley on a house fire. They were called to the home after a passerby saw smoke and flames coming from the home, said Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Shelton.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue also responded and found a male victim inside the home. They carried him outside in a life-saving effort, and then determined he had been shot, Shelton said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Once the fire was extinguished, authorities found a female victim as well. She, too, had been shot and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Shelton said investigators have not yet identified a suspect or a motive in the slayings. The victims' names are being withheld pending notification of their family members.

"Senseless is an understatement,'' Shelton said. "Planning a funeral is not something we hope to do this time of year, especially under these circumstances."

Also Sunday, in an unrelated incident, a man was shot to death during an argument at an illegal drinking establishment.

The three homicides on Sunday put Birmingham's homicide tally so far in 2016 at 100. Of those, eight have been ruled justifiable and two others were officer-involved shootings by outside law enforcement agencies - the Irondale Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office - and therefore aren't deemed criminal by the police department.

Birmingham ended 2015 with 92 homicides, a 55 percent increase over 2014, making 2015 the city's deadliest year since 2008 until 2016. Of the 92 Birmingham deaths ruled homicides by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office last year, two were considered accidental by Birmingham police and 10 others were ruled justifiable.

There were 59 homicides in Birmingham in 2014, just short of tying 2011 for the fewest killing since 1966, a year in which 56 people were victims of homicides. The city's highest homicide tally in recent history was 141 in 1991.

Here is a year-by-year look: 59 homicides in 2014, 66 in 2013, 72 in 2012, 57 in 2011, 62 in 2010, 71 in 2009, 88 in 2008, 93 in 2007, 109 in 2006 and 105 in 2005.

In all of Jefferson County, there have been 144 homicides including the 100 in Birmingham. There were 143 countywide in 2015, up from 88 in 2014.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.