BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WKRG) — In September in Baldwin County, women were suspects of three high-profile violent crimes.

Katie Smith is accused of abusing the corpse of her mother in Foley, Michelle Campbell was arrested for shooting her aunt 13 times in Loxley and Tahjaneka Armstrong is charged with murder in Bon Secour.

“I think you are seeing an increase in the violent areas among our females … murder, felony domestic violence and felony assault,” says Baldwin County Sheriff Hoss Mack.

According to numbers compiled by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, the number of women getting locked up in Baldwin County is going up.

“We seem to be gaining (200) to 300 new bookings of females per year over the past four years,” Mack said.

It’s a disturbing trend, according to the sheriff. So far this year, almost 1,500 women have been booked into the Baldwin County Jail. That number is expected to top 2,000 by the end of the year.

The increase in the number of female prisoners is one reason for the current construction project expanding the Baldwin County Jail’s capacity.

The top two floors of the current jail tower house about 100 female inmates. The new tower under construction will double and possibly triple that capacity when it opens late next year or early in 2025.

“We are pretty much full-on females year-round,” says Mack, and if current trends continue, he says the new addition will fill up fast.