In New Orleans, 2015 ended the year with the now-famous Mayor Mitch Landrieu historical monument debacle. But, 2016 is beginning with already some of the most violent and heinous crimes.

Take for instance the first murder in New Orleans since the new year. The victim is Myeisha McDaniels, a 22 year-old Dillard University recent graduate with a degree in Biology.

Apparently McDaniels was shot while sitting in her vehicle near the 3700 block of Clio Street, just a block away from the B.W. Cooper housing project.

This was the third shooting on Jan. 2, following an incident in the St. Roch area where a man was shot in the foot and an incident in the Algiers area where a man was shot in the buttocks.

Then Jan. 2-3, there were six different armed robberies in the New Orleans area and another in Jefferson Parish.

The first armed robbery involved a 29 year-old man in the 1400 block of North Broad Street. The man said he was depositing cash from an ATM when a man with a gun approached her and demanded his PIN number. The armed robber then deposited money from the man’s account. There is no description of this suspect.

The second armed robbery occurred in Central City where an armed robber came up to a house that two 30-something year-olds were renovating during the day and demanded their money, wallets and cellphones.

The third armed occurred in the 3200 block of Banks Street and involved a 55 year-old man who said two gunmen forced their way into his home and took his money before fleeing the scene.

The fourth armed robbery happened near Marshall Foch and Hidalgo streets. An 18 year-old man was getting out of his car when he said two men and a woman approached him and demanded his money and car.

The fifth armed robbery involved a 30 year-old woman who said she was approached from behind an armed robber demanding her keys. The suspect left in the woman’s vehicle.

The sixth armed robbery was reported around 2 am in the French Quarter near Bienville and Bourbon streets when apparently a gunman walked up to a couple of 17 year-olds talking and demanded their money.

And these are not even the most disturbing crimes in New Orleans so far this year. The latest incident is making national headlines across the country.

Essentially, a driver in a Sedan hit a pedestrian near Dumaine and Decatur Streets in the French Quarter and then dragged the pedestrian at least six miles all the way to the Westbank.

The unidentified male victim’s body was discovered on a highway about six miles away from where he was originally hit by the driver. The New Orleans Police Department’s (NOPD) Fatility Unit is currently working the incident, though they said they do not have any recent leads on the murder.

The violent crime in the new year of the city comes as last year wrapped up with crime statistics that conviently followed the debate surrounding historical monuments in the city.

For months now, the Landrieu administration, along with the local media, has claimed that the monuments debate has not at all distracted resources towards more pressing issues like the souring violent crime and murder rate in the city.

Landrieu said the city could do two things at once, but it seems not much progress is being made on the crime front in New Orleans.