It was, by all accounts, a horrific year. Twenty-four homicides in the national capital in 2016.



Major crimes detectives were overwhelmed, working nonstop to try to solve the cases. In the year’s final two homicides, two sisters were fatally stabbed inside a home in the city’s south end the night of Dec. 16. Their brother has been arrested, but has yet to appear in court due to mental health issues.



In the end, there were concerns in many quarters about whether this year’s homicide total was an aberration or the new normal in the city.



Here is a list of the homicides in 2016:



1.

Date: Jan. 10, 2016

Victim: Mohamed Najdi, 28

Mohamed Najdi, 28, was killed in a gang-related shooting outside his home on Claremont Drive in Manor Park. Police have charged six men with first-degree murder.



2.

Date: Jan. 31, 2016

Victim: Marwan Arab, 20

Marwan Arab, 20, was shot to death while eating with his cousin at the Shifa Restaurant on Cobden Road in Pinecrest. No arrests have been made.



3.

Date: Feb. 22, 2016

Victim: Mohamed Ali Hassan, 19

Victim was stabbed 18 times near Lawson Park in Overbrook.

Michael Leblanc, 26, has been charged with second-degree murder.



4.

Date: Feb. 24, 2016

Victim: Taylor Morrow-Flint, 20

Taylor Morrow-Flint, 20, was killed in a gang-related shooting in the 80 block of Ritchie Street in Britannia at 7:30 p.m. In April, police released composite sketches of two male suspects but have made no arrests.



5.

Date: March 8, 2016

Victim: Nooredin Hassan, 20

Nooredin Hassan, 20, was killed in a gang-related shooting in front of Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School in Gloucester. No arrests have been made.



6.

Date: March 27, 2016

Victim: Christina Voelzing, 24

Christina Voelzing, 24, was caught in the crossfire during a shooting at her home on Sonnet Crescent in Bells Corners shortly after 5 a.m. Behnam Yaali, 23, is charged with second-degree murder.



7.

Date: May 2, 2016

Victim: Lonnie Leafloor, 56

Lonnie Leafloor, 56, was stabbed in a targeted attack in an apartment on Lepage Avenue in Carlington. Idris Abdulgani, 21, is charged with first-degree murder.



8.

Date: May 24, 2016

Victim: Nicholas Kim, 30

Nicholas Kim and a woman were both shot at around 9:30 p.m. at 2750 Farriers Ln. Kim later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Jonathan Ranger, 32, is wanted by police.



9.

Date: July 10, 2016

Victim: Tarique Leger, 19

Tarique Leger, 19, was shot in the chest outside 292 St. Andrew St. shortly before 4 a.m. and pronounced dead in hospital. No arrests have been made.



10.

Date: July 23

Victim: Jeremy Mack, 36

Jeremy Mack, 36, was stabbed in the torso on Winthrop Private shortly before 4:48 p.m.

Police arrested the sole suspect, then released him without charges, believing he acted in self-defence after Mack pulled out a fake gun.



11.

Date: Aug. 14

Victim: Omar “Esco” Rashid-Ghader, 33

Omar Rashid-Ghader, 33, was shot multiple times inside the Sentral nightclub in the ByWard Market around 3:20 a.m. Mustafa Ahmed, 28, is wanted for second-degree murder.



12.

Date: Sept. 24

Victim: Jacob Thompson, 40

Jacob Thompson, 40, was shot twice around 2 a.m. outside of a group of town houses on Elmira Drive.

No homicide arrests have been made. Victim’s girlfriend, Geneva Kennedy, also known as Andrea, 39, charged as accessory to murder after the fact and obstructing investigation. Kennedy’s daughter Brianna, 20, was also charged with accessory. Geneva Kennedy pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail; the accessory charges against her and her daughter were withdrawn.



13.

Date: Sept. 25

Victim: Abdi “Ajax” Jama, 26

Abdi Jama, 26, was shot multiple times near Shillington Avenue and Merivale Road at 6:50 a.m. He died in hospital. No arrests have been made.



14.

Date: Oct. 6

Victim: Mitch Paquette, 55

Mitch Paquette, 55, was stabbed to death at 1411 Rosenthal Avenue near Merivale Road in the Carlington neighbourhood. First-degree murder warrant issued for Daniel Adjetey-Nelson, 34, of Ottawa.



15.

Date: Oct. 15

Victim: Kayla Sullivan, 30

Kayla Sullivan, who died in hospital early Oct. 15, was stabbed several times in the back the previous day outside the Salvation Army in the ByWard Market. Thirty-seven-year-old Peter Herauf was arrested in Gatineau shortly after the stabbing and charged the next day with first-degree murder.



16.

Date: Oct. 22

Victim: Joshua Brière, 26

Police found Joshua Brière on the side of the street outside of his Clyde Avenue apartment around 3 a.m. Oct. 22 suffering from several stab wounds to his torso. He died at the scene. Brandon Jack Ethier, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder.



17.

Date: Nov. 6

Victim: Solomon Odekunle, 21

Solomon Odekunle, 21, collapsed and died on the concrete median on Coventry Road after he was stabbed in the neck at Piper’s Bar and Grill just after 2 a.m. Police arrested Joe-Bryan Ndikuriyo, 27, later in the day and charged him with second-degree murder.



18, 19.

Date: Unknown

Victims: Dave Rogers, 69, Merrill Gleddie, 63

The bodies of Dave Rogers, 69, and his wife, Merrill Gleddie, 63, were found on Nov. 28 behind a shed in the yard of their home on Apeldoorn Avenue in Carleton Heights. Their son, Cameron Rogers, 22, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.



20.

Date: Dec. 6

Victim: Leslie Mwakio, 17

Leslie Mwakio, 17, was hit once in the side of the head when a volley of shots was fired into the Jeep he was sitting in outside 82 Bayswater Ave., in Hintonburg. Police said it was a targeted killing. No one has been arrested in the case.



21.

Date: Dec. 10

Victim: Lee John Joseph Germain, 32

Lee John Joseph Germain, 32, was shot to death in a McLeod Street apartment. Ottawa police have obtained a Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of Steven Micheal Frenette.



22.

Date: Dec. 11

Victim: Abdullah Al-Tutunji, 20

Abdullah Al-Tutunji, 20, was stabbed to death after a dispute in a McDonald’s restaurant spilled outside near the intersection of Prince of Wales Drive and Meadowlands Drive. A second man whose name has not been released was treated in hospital for minor injuries and taken into police custody.



23, 24.

Date: Dec. 16

Victims: Asma A-Noor, 32, and Nasiba A-Noor, 29



Sisters Asma and Nasiba A-Noor were fatally stabbed inside a home on McCarthy Road in the city’s sound end on the evening of Dec. 16th; both worked as teachers and were well-known inside Ottawa’s Somali community. Their brother, Musab A-Noor, 29, now faces murder charges.



With files from Shaamini Yogaretnam and Joe Lofaro