The number of murders in California rose by 3.7 percent in 2016, according to newly released statistics from the state Attorney General's office.
1,930 homicides were recorded, compared with 1,861 in 2015, while the number of people arrested for murder remained almost unchanged.
Other numbers reported:
Just under half of the men murdered were killed while on the street or sidewalk while more than half of the women murdered were killed inside their home.
Nine people were sentenced to death - all men - and most death verdicts (78 percent) were from Southern California courtrooms.
There were 142 justifiable homicides, 102 of them involved police officers and the other 40 were citizen self defense cases.