MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — More people were killed by someone else in 2022 than any year on record in Maricopa County.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's report for 2022 found 438 people died by homicide, the highest since the county started keeping track in 1991.
Among those people is Jeanette Johnson's sister Janet Begaye. According to Phoenix police, Begaye's body was found dead in the canal at 32nd Street and McDowell Road last July.
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Janet was shot, and her personal belongings, Johnson said, haven't been found.
"She said she was just gonna be back; she's gonna go do something and come back and never came home," Johnson said.
Janet was a single mom to four kids, and her family is still waiting for answers.
12News did contact Phoenix police on Monday regarding the status of Begaye's case but has yet to receive a response.
"My niece and nephews, they need to know," Johnson said. "The unsettling thing of like somebody running around there did that harm to my little sister - it's scary."
Of those 438 killed by someone else last year in Maricopa County, 361 of them - 82% - had a firearm used in their murder. In 2020, 72% of all homicides had a firearm involved.
"A lot of crimes too - especially homicide - they're passionate," Benjamin Down-Arrow, Ph.D. and the Director of Bachelor's in Public Health at Florida State University said.
Dowd-Arrow has studied things like why people own guns and firearm policy support. While 2020 and 2021 saw increased homicides nationwide, Dowd-Arrow said 2022 showed a slight dip.
Still, Dowd-Arrow said he doesn't expect the number of people killed by others to drop dramatically because of the uncertain economic times still looming.
"What we found when we studied why people were buying guns during the pandemic - they were buying them because of financial strain, financial burden," Dowd-Arrow said.
"They were afraid because people are afraid that someone may take what little bit they have, so they buy a gun to protect what they have."
While homicide numbers increased in Maricopa County last year, Phoenix police and partner agencies did launch "Operation Gun Crime Crackdown last summer, aiming to reduce violent crimes in the city.
"I think those kinds of measures are a good first step," Dowd-Arrow said. "But I think long-term solutions - to quote Barack Obama - require gun owners and non-gun owners coming together to create reasonable solutions."
Right now, Johnson hopes for a resolution in her sister's case.
"Her kids are missing out," Johnson said.
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