Police have launched eight murder investigations in 2023, the lowest number since the end of the Troubles.
In 2022, the PSNI investigated 20 suspected murders.
Murder charges have been brought in seven of the eight deaths this year, while a major investigations team continues to probe the fatal beating of off duty PSNI officer Colin Prime, the only violent death in Belfast.
Shane Whitla was the first to be killed, shot dead in Lurgan, a victim of a feud involving drug debts, a court heard.
The 39-year-old was shot several times in an alleyway on January 12. The father-of-four made his way to Lord Lurgan Park, where he collapsed and died.
Three men have been charged in connection with murder.
Detectives are investigating the violent death of 41-year-old Colin Prime, discovered gravely injured following an altercation on the Malone Road in the early hours of January 29.
Mr Prime, a serving police officer but off duty at the time, died in hospital on March 8. Police said three men approached Mr Prime and a friend on the Malone Road at the corner of Eglantine Avenue.
Police confirmed a murder investigation was launched. Three men were arrested and questioned but no charges have yet been brought.
Emergency services were called to the scene of a house fire in Church Street in Portadown on March 21. Alesia Nazarova (37) was found dead inside the house. Her 12-year-old was also discovered and had to be taken to hospital for treatment
A murder investigation was launched by police and within days a 25-year-old was arrested and then charged. He was also charged with attempted murder, arson with intent to endanger life and theft.
Paul Francis ‘Fez’ O’Boyle (58) was discovered unconscious behind a public house in the Main Street area of Rasharkin on April 16. He died the following day.
A 56-year-old man, originally arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, was later charged with murder.
Chloe Mitchell was missing for more a week before her body was discovered. The body of the 21-year-old, last seen on CCTV in Ballymena town centre, was discovered on June 11. At the same time, a property in the James Street area of the town was sealed off.
Two men have been charged in connection with her death, one with murder, the other with attempting to impede justice by concealing evidence.
Cornelius O’Neill (56) died following what a court heard was an “unprovoked attack” at a property in Kilrea, Co Derry, on August 29. He had been stabbed. A 33-year-old was charged with murder.
Father-of-one Conor Browne (28) was stabbed outside a pub in Castederg in the early hours of September 2. He died in hospital two days later.
Within a day, two men had been charged with his murder, one aged 27, the other 28. The latter was also charged with possession of an offensive weapon.
Nursing assistant Odhrán Kelly’s body was discovered beside a burning car in the Edward Street area in the early hours of December 3.
Five people have appeared in court charged in connection with the murder of the 23-year-old. Two men were charged with murder while three women are accused of assisting in an offence.