TWO youngsters - including an 11-month-old toddler - were among the 21 people to have died in violent circumstances in Northern Ireland this year.
Baby Hunter McGleenon from Keady, Co Armagh, died on Tuesday November 26.
Sharyar Ali (31) of Westenra Terrace, Co Monaghan, has been charged in connection with the little boy's death.
Newry Magistrates Court was told that Ali, who was babysitting the child while his mother visited a terminally ill grandmother, left him alone during the night to go to a casino.
When he brought the boy back the next day, a court was told, the baby was cold to touch.
The second child to die in tragic circumstances was Nadia Zofia Kalinowska.
Emergency services were called to her family home in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of Belfast in the early hours of Sunday December 15.
A husband and wife are accused of murdering the five-year-old. A court was told they claim she fell down the stairs while they were sleeping.
After a post mortem examination Nadia's mother Aleksandra Wahab (25) and stepfather Abdul Wahab (31) were charged and remanded in custody.
The final victims of the year were Joe Dutton (47) and Frances Murray (37), who were both killed in a knife attack two days before Christmas.
Steven McBrine (35), also of Kinnaird Close, appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court last week charged with the double murder. The court was told he had made full admissions.
The first murder of 2019 was a gun attack on 37-year-old Wayne Boylan in Warrenpoint.
Mr Boylan was at a house in Lower Dromore Road when two masked men burst into the house and shot him in the head.
A 21-year-old woman who was also at the property was struck in the face and neck with shotgun pellets. Her injuries while serious were not life threatening.
No one has as yet been charged with the murder.
Father-of two Ian Ogle (45), who was stabbed to death just yards from his Cluan Place home in east Belfast, was the first paramilitary-linked murder of the year.
His death was linked to tensions within the east Belfast UVF. A number of people have been charged in connection with his murder.
A man and woman were charged with the murder of 30-year-old Pat Ward in Clogher, Co Tyrone in February.
The body of the father-of-four was discovered in an alleyway close to his McCrea Park home.
Gruesome footage which showed Mr Ward's still-moving body being dragged towards the alleyway was posted online.
The second paramilitary-linked murder of the year was that of senior loyalist David Hugh Murphy (52).
A neighbour discovered Mr Murphy's body at a farmhouse on Church Road on the road between Ballymena and Larne on February 19. He had been shot dead. No one has been charged with the murder.
A mother and daughter were the victims of a murder-suicide in Newry in March that shocked the local community.
The bodies of Giselle Marimon-Herrera (37) and her 15-year-old daughter Allison were discovered by police at an apartment in Glee Road after family members raised the alarm.
The body of Russell Steele, originally from the Scotland was also discovered at the property. He had strangled the mother and daughter before taking his own life.
Just days later another woman, Alice Morrow (53) was discovered dead in her own home at Whincroft Way on the Braniel estate in east Belfast.
Ms Morrow was a mother-of-three and had three grandchildren.
William Stephen Hutchinson (42) has been charged with her murder.
Reece Leeman (21) was stabbed to death in Connsbrook Drive in east Belfast on Friday March 15.
A man accused of killing Mr Leeman, claims he acted in self-defence following a struggle at his home on nearby Kyle Street when two men broke into the property.
His death brought to four the number of people killed in March, the most violent month of the year.
Darren McGurk (23), sustained head injuries following an assault at a house in the Glenbeg Walk area of Limavady. A man was originally charged with grievous bodily harm but after Mr McGurk passed away from his injuries in hospital he was returned to court and charged with murder.
The most high profile murder of the year was that of author and journalist Lyra Mckee. She was shot dead by a member of the New IRA during a riot in the Creggan estate in Derry.
The 29-year-old died from a gunshot wound to the head, after the paramilitary group fired shots at a police land rover she was standing close to while observing the riot.
While there have been a number of arrests no one has been charged with her murder.
Her funeral held in St Anne's cathedral was attended by then Prime Minister Theresa May and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar along with a number of other high profile dignitaries.
Niall Magee (21) died after an altercation at a house in Cairn Walk in Crumlin in April during which he suffered a fatal stab wound.
Michael McManus (26), of Cairn Walk in Crumlin, is charged with Mr Magee's murder.
William McCormick (55) known to his friends as Pat, had been missing since May 30. His body was recovered from a lake in Ballygowan in July.
One man has been charged with the murder and a woman charged with aiding and abetting and perverting the course of justice.
In June Paul Smyth (50) was shot dead at his Lisburn home. Two men have been charged in connection with his death.
Career criminal and former LVF boss Malcolm McKeown (54) was shot dead in a gangland style execution at the rear of a garage in the village of Waringstown in Co Down on August 19.
Jake O'Brien (25) from Rectory Park in Lurgan, and Andrew Martin (24) from Trasna Way, also in Lurgan have been charged in connection with the shooting.
Timothy Graham was yet another victim of knife crime in 2019. The 47-year-old was stabbed to death outside his home in Enterprise Court, Bangor on November 1.
A 45-year-old man has been charged in connection with his killing.
Former BBC presenter Michael Kerr (68) was "viciously beaten to death in a sustained and violent attack,"at his home in Birch Drive in Bangor in November.
Det Supt Jason Murphy said Mr Kerr's body showed "no signs of defensive injuries" and he was likely to have been "utterly defenceless".
On December 9, the body of Cecil Robert R Ellis, known as Foggy, was discovered at his home at Clonaugh Park on Portadown. He had been stabbed to death.
According to police 21 people were killed in Northern Ireland in 2019. They included two children, five gun attack victims, seven from knife crime, three by femicide and the rest following violent assaults.
The deaths were an increase on 2018 when 19 people killed and on 2017 when 15 people were killed, according to PSNI statistics.
