When the temperature rises in Richmond so does the temperament. Killings typically spike in the summer months, so what has the record-breaking heat wrought? Through Monday, July 26, the city stood pat at 24 homicides for the year, compared with 28 through the same period in 2009.

Killings are assuming their place in the headlines, as evidenced by the recent case surrounding Tameka Claiborne, whose 2-year-old toddler was found wandering in a Chesterfield County apartment complex July 20. After an investigation, Claiborne's body was found in the James River in Charles City County a few days later. At press time, police had charged her boyfriend, Michael Solomon, and Alphonzo Richardson with abducting the child and unlawful disposal of a body, respectively.