The mother of a congressional intern fatally shot in 2025 says President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., is showing results, pointing to a sharp year-over-year decline in killings across the nation’s capital.
According to newly released figures from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, homicides in Washington, D.C., fell 43.9% during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. The city recorded 46 homicides in that span in 2026, down from 82 in 2025.
The decline followed Trump’s decision in early August 2025 to deploy the National Guard and place the city’s police force under federal control, a move he said was intended to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”
President Donald Trump visits the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on Aug. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Authorities said the shooting unfolded when several people got out of a vehicle and opened fire on a group that included Tarpinian-Jachym.
Investigators later said Tarpinian-Jachym was not believed to have been the intended target.
National Guardsmen patrol the District of Columbia in 2026. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
In an interview with News Outlet, Tamara Jachym, Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother, said she believes the National Guard’s presence in Washington, D.C., has helped improve public safety.
“Something’s working and I think extra eyes and ears on the ground is helping this happen,” Jachym said. “From what I understand from the folks in D.C. that I do speak with, and they’re from all walks of life… They notice a difference. They feel safer.”
Eric Tarpinian-Jachym pictured with his mother, Tamara Jachym. (Tamara Jachym)
“I remember when my son Eric was killed, there was a homicide every other day till the National Guard came in,” Jachym said.
Jachym had a message for lawmakers who oppose the National Guard being sent to major U.S. cities.
“Those are your constituents. They’re being murdered, maimed, and live in fear. It’s not OK. I feel that those elected officials have to start feeling compassion to the people who live in these cities who have been victims themselves of a violent crime or their families,” she said. “You have to have empathy for us victims, not the criminals.”
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told News Outlet: “President Trump promised to make America safe again and the data proves he has done just that.”
“President Trump has transformed our nation’s capital from a crime-ridden city into a safe and beautiful haven for residents and visitors alike. The President’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force have made more than 16,000 arrests including murderers, sex offenders, drug traffickers and other violent criminals. The Task Force has driven down crime, beautified the city, and improved quality of life for countless individuals.”
Eric Tarpinian-Jachym seen fishing. (Tamara Jachym)
The Major Cities Chiefs Association also showed that homicides in Memphis, Tennessee dropped by 43.7% in the same time period, from 119 to 67. Trump also deployed the National Guard to that city in 2025.
Jachym wants people to remember her son as a “kind, humble soul who would reach across the aisle and work with the other side to give and take to come up with solutions for the problems we’re seeing in America right now.”
