The city of Bangor had no homicides in 2025, a marked decrease from 2024 when the city had five killings.
While it’s good to go a whole year without any homicides, it isn’t uncommon, Bangor police spokesperson Jeremy Brock said. The city also had no homicides in 2022 and 2021.
“We’re thankful obviously that nothing terrible like that has happened to the community,” Brock said. “We certainly find it to be our responsibility that when terrible things like that do happen to the community, we are tasked with doing our job to investigate that and make sure that it’s handled the proper way.”
There were a couple stabbings that were “close calls,” but quick, effective medical treatment ensured people survived, Brock said.
Homicide rates fluctuate and a change doesn’t mean the city is any less safe, Brock said. He pointed to the fact that the homicides in 2024 didn’t have any known connections to one another, he said.
The people killed in 2024 were 10-year-old Braxtyn Smith, 24-year-old Daniel Ford-Coates, 29-year-old Virgina Cookson, 27-year-old Dylan Caruso and 64-year-old Lee Ruona. Trials are expected in 2026 for multiple of those cases.
In the past 10 years, Bangor had four years with no homicides: 2025, 2022, 2021 and 2016. In 2018 there were four homicides, the second highest year.
There were homicides in Penobscot County in 2025, including Abigail Thomas who was killed Dec. 27 in Corinth, 46-year-old Scott Roberts who was killed in Glenburn in September and 3-year-old Fiona Brown, who was found dead in a car in Milford.
