Barely six hours into the new year and the city has what is most likely its first homicide of 2011. Dwayne Haughton, 29, was fatally shot outside a New Year's party in South Richmond Hill after breaking up a fight between two women. Haughton was there to pick up his girlfriend around 5:30 a.m. when he saw the fight break out. His girlfriend, whom he asked to stay in the car, said she heard gunshots soon after. She told the Daily News, "When I ran out of the car, he was just laying there on his back, just laying there not moving."

Haughton was rushed to Jamaica Center Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from neck and chest wounds. He was a father to two children, and had one previous arrest for weapons possession. The final crime statistics have not been released for 2010, but according to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly there were 526 homicides in the city, up 13.4% from 2009. But who knows how accurate that is.